Generations: Rebel Inside
by Charlotte1
Summary: Alecia Malfoy, Rachel Weasley and Katie Potter are starting their 4th year at Hogwarts. A school exchange trip, a frightening new teacher who hates all Malfoys and more teenage dramas await them. Who can blame them for losing the plot a little?
1. Part One

Title: **Generations: Rebel Inside**

_Part IV in my Generations series_

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the words and the original characters. The rest of this world belongs to the talented JK Rowling, so please don't sue, I have nothing

Summary: Leshia, Katie, Rachel and all their friends are back for their fourth year at Hogwarts. With a little sister she cannot stand to look in the eye, her parents tearing their hair out over their daughter's behaviour and a new global wizarding event to take Hogwarts by storm Leshia can be forgiven for losing it a little bit. Or is it more than that? Was the Sorting Hat wrong four years ago when it tried to place her in Slytherin? New adventures, new laughs, new tears and new enemies, this is the fourth instalment in the Generations series. Hope you enjoy

**IMPORTANT NOTE:**  
My series started three years ago, before books 6 and 7 were released. I have worked round the events in Book 6, but due to my set up and characters, it (naturally) diverges greatly from the canon story of Book 7. Here is a brief summary of the key differences between Canon and my Alternative version of events.  
**MASSIVE spoiler warning for Book 7 if you have not read it**  
Draco is caught and joins the Order. Harry misread Voldemort and they missed one crucial Horcrux meaning when Hary and Draco teamed up to destroy the dark lord he was not entirely vanquished. Hermione falls in love with Draco and this drives Ron to get back with Lavender. Snape is not killed, but he remains alive to ressurect Dumbledore as was his plan all along. Fred does not die. Lupin and Tonks do not die. Percy does die after turning back to the 'good side'. Lucius remains Voldemort's right hand man, he is not dis-wanded.

**Generations: Rebel Inside**

**Part I**

It had been a long summer as far as Alecia Malfoy was concerned; a summer filled with screaming babies, smelly nappies and flustered parents. The fourteen-year-old girl conceded the latter may in part be her fault, just a little of course. In rebellion to the birth of her little sister Leshia had spent very little time at home this summer.

Throughout the week Flourish and Blotts, Leshia's employer second summer running, had demanded every moment of the girl's attention. She was called her to work before her exhausted parents had risen and only given leave to go past six in the evening, at which point the teenager would undoubtedly floo to one of her friend's houses to hide out till curfew. These hours were of course voluntary and despite her two employers' concern that Leshia rarely went home anymore, the girl held out claiming she needed the extra pocket money. She was such an efficient little worker the ageing men had not fought her on the matter.

On the weekends the girl had stayed at either of her best friends' houses without fail, managing to arrange it so she hadn't spent a single one at home. All in all, she had been a ghost of a family member, one Draco and Hermione, her long-suffering parents, had not had the pleasure of encountering on any semblance of a regular basis all summer. Always home by curfew and then straight up to her room, they had no reason to punish her, but boy did they miss her. Family get-togethers with the extended Weasley clan were as close as they got to their daughter and even then her submergence in the vast army of Weasley grandchildren made it difficult for them to engage her in any sort of conversation.

Leshia had become a stranger to her own parents, and all because of Evie: darling little Evie. None could begrudge her the adoring love all those who encountered her doted on her, as the baby girl was a beautiful child and so nicely natured. Where before her her older sister had demanded every scrap of attention of everyone she came across, Evie was most content just to watch the world unfold around her. She had no desire to be in the centre of it all.

Like fire and water the sisters, separated by fourteen years, differed. Both in exterior and internal attributes they could not have been more opposite, which had not helped in their bonding. The older blonde and grey eyed with all the bravado of a well-travelled con man, the other dark haired and dark eyed and with the serenity of a newborn angel. Leshia and Evie were only sisters in their shared genetics and nothing more. No matter how much Hermione tried to console herself by comparing pictures of her oldest daughter as an infant to her new baby girl and noting the likeness in their beautiful little faces, indeed in the face Evie was a near-replica of her older sister, the new mother could not be consoled at Leshia's attitude towards her family.

It had been Hermione's dream to have a second child, and although the baby was all she had hoped for, her firstborn's reaction was not. Where had they gone wrong? Why was their oldest daughter so abnormally adjusted that the arrival of a sibling had caused her such grief and turmoil? Hermione's extended absence throughout most of Leshia's childhood was almost inevitably to blame for all this grief, but it was too late to change all that. The distressed mother couldn't simply turn back time and avoid getting herself abducted. If only Leshia would spend more time at home with the baby then she might learn to adore Evie's unique little personality. Hermione felt Leshia would definitely recognise much of her own stubbornness and mischief in Evie, but Leshia didn't want to look. She would rather work her ever-waking moment than be home with her family.

It was a very sorry state of affairs.

Even with just one whole day of holiday left to wile away Leshia was at the bookshop stacking displays and seeing to customers. She'd come across nearly every youngster in the school by working behind the till and as such had been granted a head start on the start of term gossip. Though she had sorely wanted to pass the gossip on to her various friends and schoolmates as they filed in to buy their books, she had refrained. Surely she owed them her silence due to some sort of customer-shop assistant confidentiality? The youngster had often been reduced to biting firmly on her tongue when the subjects of another's gossiping walked in and she felt they were owed some sort of warning.

This was one of those moments.

Leshia had just been finishing up with a customer, a portly woman buying a full array of first years books for her son or daughter, before she finished for the day when a tall permanently-frightened looking girl wandered in with her equally tall, yet less frightened looking parents and older sisters.

"Leshia," Harriet Coldcauldron managed with a bright smile when she noticed the Gryffindor girl stood behind the till. For a moment Leshia smiled guiltily at the newcomer, before she quickly tried to settle the portly woman's change. The customer however, wasn't budging and instead was staring at the girl with a thoughtful look.

"Leshia?" she finally asked in what could only be described as a haughty tone. The girl at the till nodded awkwardly to her customer. What had she done now? "Alecia Malfoy?" Now Leshia furrowed her brow, but she nodded once more.

"Yes."

The portly woman's eyes roved over Leshia's features, before she nodded stiltedly.

"You look like your father," was all the woman said before she lifted the package of books and stalked from the shop with an air of someone believing themselves to be above everyone else in the street. Leshia stared after her with a putout expression, wondering who she, or Draco, had offended now.

"Have you had a nice summer?" Rudely Leshia was jolted back to the present and she found herself staring suddenly into Harriet Coldcauldron's large hazel eyes. Instantly the guilty squirm in her stomach returned.

Harriet did not know it yet, but her boyfriend, Gareth was about to dump her for her best friend Daisy. It was a sorry situation and one Leshia had been entirely informed about by a tearful Daisy, whose family was close with Gareth's and whose summer had been inexplicably intertwined with the boy's. Leshia had made all the right sympathetic noises, but couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable hearing about the whole thing. Boys and crushes had nearly ripped apart her friendship with her age-old friend Katie.

"Uh yeah, it was okay. Yours?"

"Great," Harriet laughed nervously. Leshia had always felt the girl looked very uncomfortable in her own skin; how awful that must be. "How's your little sister?" Harriet next asked.

It had been public knowledge at Hogwarts last year that Hermione had had a baby girl. Indeed, she had given birth to Evie in the Hospital Wing and many of the school's pupils had come to say goodbye to their favoured teacher and greet the new baby before they left on the last day. Harriet had been one of these. Leshia forced a very false smile onto her face.

"Just being a regular baby I think," she managed as politely as she could. Harriet, oblivious to Leshia's tension, gave a sickly smile.

"Oh I always wanted a little brother or sister. It sucks being the youngest. You're so lucky!" Leshia's fake smile wavered as she fought the urge to regurgitate what she had heard about Gareth and Daisy.

"Well, anyway, can I help you get your books?" she asked firmly instead. Harriet shook her head with a shrug.

"No that's okay, I'm getting Rianna's hand-me-downs. So does she cry lots, Evie I mean?" Leshia rubbed the back of her neck forcefully.

"Um yeah actually. Quite a lot."

"Do you think she recognises you yet?"

"Well, uh I don't…" Leshia was finding it more difficult to keep the gossip regurgitation down and was sure she was about to say something very hurtful when suddenly the door to the shop opened again and a wonderfully familiar youngster burst in with a big grin.

"Rachel!" Leshia called out, unable to hide her relief.

"I've been sent to fetch you by her ladyship my cousin, we're mustering for one last butterbeer in the Cauldron before school starts again." Leshia beamed at her best friend, full of gratitude. "Oh hi Harriet, didn't see you there."

While Rachel busied herself with the startled-looking girl Leshia quickly collected her things and poked her head round the office door where her employers Mr Flourish and Mr Blott were fussing over something hidden from Leshia's view by their rather rotund bodies.

"Um Mr Flourish? Mr Blott? I'm just heading off," Quite suddenly the two men spun around, a poorly wrapped parcel in their hands, their faces flustered.

"Leshia!" Flourish gabbled sounding surprised. "You've caught us."

"Excuse me?" the youngster chuckled. "Caught you?"

"Well we couldn't have you go off without giving you a token of our immense appreciation for all the time you've devoted to us this summer," Blott explained and despite herself Leshia laughed.

"You really shouldn't have!" Quickly the parcel was shoved into her hands and the two lumbering men awkwardly patted the young lady on the back while she pulled the freshly wrapped paper off a large and very old book.

"The Secrets of Strength," Leshia read aloud interestedly. Curiously she looked up at her employers.

"It is a very rare and fascinating old book Leshia," Flourish explained. "We hope you enjoy it as much as we have."

Not quite knowing what she had been bestowed with, yet knowing it pained the two men to give it up, Leshia hugged them in thanks before carefully stowing the book in her shoulder bag. The men escorted Leshia back into the shop where Rachel was looking very sheepish next to a crying Harriet, enveloped in her sister Beth's arms. Leshia raised her eyebrows in a silent demand at her friend, but the redhead simply shrugged guiltily and rushed to join Leshia at the door.

"Now you be good young Leshia, even we come to hear of your Hogwarts adventures eventually you know and it doesn't half worry us to death when we think of the dangers you put yourself in!" Blott ordered Leshia fondly. She smiled and nodded.

"Trust me, I'll be staying out of trouble this year."

"Excellent," Flourish cheered jovially. Before any further admonishment could come Leshia dragged Rachel away down the emptying street towards the pub.

"What did you do to Harriet?" she asked amusedly.

"Ah, well, you see…"

"Rach," Leshia warned, her eyes twinkling fondly.

"How was I supposed to know she hadn't the foggiest about Gareth and Daisy?"

"Because I told you she didn't," Leshia laughed loudly. "Oh seriously, you've just broken that poor girl's heart."

"Hey, _I_ didn't cheat on her," Rachel complained, the colour rising in her cheeks. "She's better off knowing now anyway, then she can get all her crying out the way before we get back to school." The girl continued to tease Rachel about her _faux pas_ until they reached the cauldron where a little gathering of soon-to-be fourth years had commandeered a booth in the corner. Katie, Parys, Rodeo, Ashley and Nicola were thoroughly enjoying themselves by the time Leshia and Rachel arrived, but when they saw the two girls approaching they called out to them joyously.

"Finally, you're here!" Katie cried out and she dragged Leshia down beside her. "Where have you been?"

"Watching the heartbreaker over there do her thing," Leshia chuckled, giving Rachel a playful glare.

"What?" Katie laughed, but seeing most of the table watching her and realising this was a sensitive topic around Katie and her ex-boyfriend Rodeo, Leshia shook her head quickly.

"Never mind, it's not important."

"So, one last day of freedom then back to the ball and chains," Parys Jackson sighed grimly. He had long been one of the heartthrobs of the year alongside his best friend Rodeo Holsson. Both tall and well on their way to being broad shouldered toned young men, the two youngsters had been drawn together initially by the mutual peculiarity of their monikers, but within moments of comparing stories about their unique parents they had realised they were kindred spirits, mates, on the same level.

Parys had been a slow bloomer and whereas his mate Rodeo had long since benefited from his mother and father's model good looks, Parys was only just starting to truly grow into his noble features. Whereas Rodeo was bohemian, scruffy and rogue like, with long hair now reaching the nape of his neck bleached from the sun and permanently in a shaggy mess, Parys wore his hair short and neat and there was a sense of nobility about the young man even now, dressed in baggy ripped jeans and a creased T-shirt.

"I can't wait to go back to school," Leshia countered adamantly. "Can't bloody wait." Her friends exchanged an awkward look; what were they meant to say to such a statement? They had been skirting round the obvious fact of Leshia's distancing herself from her family all summer and didn't feel it was their place to challenge the girl on it, but it did make things awkward when it came up. Katie shifted on her seat, her mouth half open to speak the words she'd been wanting to for weeks. Before even Rachel could intervene however, Leshia spoke again, "Who _is_ that?"

"Who?" Ashley Reed, a girl who had only been forced into friendship by the fact that they shared their Gryffindor dormitory, asked curiously. Leshia nodded to a large formidable woman standing at the door to the pub, about to wander out onto the street, a houself hurried behind her laden down with packages.

"She keeps glaring at me," Leshia complained and she shifted uncomfortably.

"Leesh she's not even looking this way," Rodeo now spoke up amusedly.

"She was a second ago _and _back in the shop. Who is she? Does anyone know?" Now Leshia looked up at her friends, her expression hopeful.

"I think its Mrs Savage," Katie finally replied in deep thought.

"Hey! Is she Old Man Savage's wife then?" Rachel asked interestedly.

"The very same." Leshia felt her insides churn a little.

"Old Man Savage," she repeated to herself, suddenly feeling very well informed as to why that woman had cause to hate her so.

"Uh, could someone help a muggleborn out?" Rodeo piped up when he saw the significant looks cross his friends' faces. Nicola White, the final occupant of the Gryffindor girls' dormitory and Ashley's best friend giggled at Rodeo's side. She too was muggle born, but this could not account for her girly fit as she had been giggling at Rodeo's side all afternoon, much to the boy's bemusement.

"Rodes I hate to say it mate, but you're beyond help," Parys told his friend grimly, a smirk pulling at his handsome face.

"Yeah yeah," Rodeo chuckled when the table erupted into laughter. "Who's Old Man Savage?" Everyone glanced to Leshia feeling it really ought to be her story to tell. She was staring down at her hands.

"Old Man Savage was a Death Eater, a really really nasty one," she finally spoke, looking up now into Rodeo's interested face. "Otherwise known as Crispin Savage. He was a big supporter of Voldemort and did some horrid stuff during the war. He killed a lot of muggles. That was his thing see. Well after Voldemort was killed he carried on killing. Took my dad five years to track him down and a week's duelling to bring him to justice. Before he was carted off to Azkaban Savage vowed my dad and everyone he cared about would suffer for what he did. Two weeks later and he was dead. Killed himself so they say."

Rodeo whistled appreciatively.

"That's some pretty heavy stuff. Doesn't that scare the hell out of you?" Leshia raised her eyebrows.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, people vowing to kill you and stuff."

"Rodes I can't even tell you the amount of people who have sworn revenge on my dad and his family. I bet I don't even know about the half of them. This one was just heavily publicised at the time, that's all."

"So that woman, she's his wife?" Rodeo asked, glancing back to the door. Leshia sighed and nodded.

"Seems so and she was buying first year books. You know what that means?" Now Leshia directed her tired gaze at Rachel and Katie, who nodded grimly.

"Slimy Samuel is coming to school," they replied in unison.

"Slimy Samuel?" Rodeo spoke again.

"Samuel Savage their son," Leshia explained. "I've never met the kid, but everyone who has says he's a nightmare."

"And he's got a reason to hate you," Rachel chuckled, earning herself an amused glare from Leshia.

"And he's got a reason to hate me," Leshia repeated. Suddenly she groaned dramatically and slid down on the soft bench. "There was me thinking this year was going to be a walk in the park." Her friends laughed.

"Leesh where you're concerned nothing's _ever_ a walk in the park," Katie assured the girl. "But it's okay, he's only in first year. What's he going to do?"

"Well if his mum has been teaching him Dark Arts since his old man topped himself then I'd say he's capable of quite a lot," Leshia replied grimly.

"But the whole school's got your back mate, you'll be fine," Parys spoke reassuringly, but soon changed tack when Leshia play-glowered at him, "Okay, so three quarters of the school, that's still more than enough to ward off one little first year."

Feeling reassured by her friends' support Leshia sat up again at the table and was about to change the topic of conversation on to a more worthy subject that didn't revolve around her when suddenly she caught sight of a familiar face across the pub. Her own face grew stony.

"Um, can we go back to yours now Katie?" she spoke stiltedly. Where most of her friends frowned with this about turn Rachel, who had been also been scanning the pub instantly understood her friend's mood and felt saddened by it.

"Leesh I'm sure he's not going to come over," the redhead explained gently, reaching out to squeeze her friend's arm.

"Who?" the boys demanded. Katie though, had by now spotted the unmistakable figure of Draco Malfoy parting the crowds at the bar, still oblivious to the fact that his estranged daughter was sat only a few yards away. He seemed to be waiting for someone, glancing toward the door leading out into the dusty yard beyond.

The youngsters had all fallen silent, not daring to speak lest Draco hear them. They also did not darep to bring up the peculiarity of this situation lest they force Leshia to talk about something she had no desire to talk about. They were stuck, frozen in a very uncomfortable moment in time.

"Leesh we can go if you want," Katie finally spoke. As though her soft response had carried magically across the bar to Draco's ears he suddenly turned to look straight at the six teenagers watching him. Startled at the sight of the child he had missed more than he could explain that summer staring at him now so contemptuously Draco briefly looked away, before he grinded his teeth together and pushed himself from the bar. He was walking over.

"Great," Leshia muttered and quite suddenly she was on her feet looking at the friends she, Katie and Rachel were leaving behind. "Sorry to run, but we'll see you guys Sunday on the train."

"Take care Leesh," Rodeo called after the girl tentatively, his eyes creased in sore disappointment that she was going. Though the three girls' escape was a speedy one, they weren't quite fast enough and before they reached the hearth, ready to floo back to Potter Manor Draco had stepped in their path. Leshia faced her father, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Hi," she stated civilly. Draco mimicked her pose, towering over his short daughter.

"Hi. Katie's tonight is it?" he looked past his child briefly to her friends, who were watching him with sympathy in their eyes.

"Yeah."

"When will you be home? I know Ginny's planning…"

"Curfew. You already told me I had to be home by ten, so that's when I'll be home," Leshia interrupted simply. "I'm not doing anything wrong."

"No I know sweetheart." Her father's gentle tone and understanding was too much for Leshia who nodded quickly.

"Okay, well, we'd better get going," she stated bravely and after glancing up into her father's sorry eyes she quickly looked away again and skirted round his massive form to the hearth.

"Have a good evening girls," Draco told her friends with a sad smile before he ducked under a low beam beside the hearth to seek out who he had come to meet. Katie and Rachel exchanged a heartbroken look as Leshia threw a handful of floo powder into the hearth, shouted 'Potter Manor' and then promptly disappeared in a swirl of green flames.

XXX

Hermione looked at the little bundle in her lap with a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth and a tear rolling down her cheek. Baby Evie was struggling a little in her blanket, looking up with dark eyes, seeking out Hermione's, too young to wonder why her mother was both crying and smiling all in one go.

"It'll be okay little one," Hermione whispered through a loud sniff, unsure of who she was trying to reassure. "Sometimes mummies and daddies get angry with each other. I didn't mean to shout so loud. I didn't mean to wake you up."

Hermione laughed stupidly to herself, wiping at her face with the back of her hand. How ludicrous she felt, trying to explain to a two-month-old baby why she and Draco had had yet another argument, why she had shouted her anger and pain away, why Draco had stormed off into the evening.

"It's your sister," Hermione was continuing, finding it hard to stop now she had started. "My wonderful darling little girl who doesn't even look at me anymore. She's so like your father. If only she would spend some time with you she'd understand, she'd love you as much as we do, we'd be a proper family. She's just so _stubborn_…"

Hermione broke down into sobs, bending over her baby and hugging her tightly to her chest. The baby struggled more. For a while her mother rocked her backwards and forwards, too upset to speak.

XXX

Leshia, Katie and Rachel were giggling fit to burst, sprawled across the plush carpet on Katie's floor, pouring over a fresh batch of pictures Katie had had developed earlier that day. Happy scenes from the last few weeks of the summer bounced out of every moving photo and several times the girls stopped to recall the moment a certain picture had been taken.

"Aw Katie can I have this one?" Leshia suddenly demanded with a big smile on her face as she looked at the picture of the three of them, squeezed into the swinging bench in Katie's back garden seemingly happier than they'd ever been. It was a tribute to old times, a sign that all was not lost and that Leshia had been happy at some point during the long summer.

Katie looked wistfully at the picture, almost reluctant to give it away – she too had loved it the moment she saw it – but after seeing how happy it had made Leshia she nodded selflessly.

"Of course you can have it," she replied kindly eliciting a beaming smile from the blonde girl, who pawed lovingly at her new prize. "On one condition."

"Yeah?"

"You put it up at Hogwarts so I can still see it every now and then." Leshia grinned and rolled across the soft carpet to her friend, who she hugged with one arm about her shoulders.

"Deal."

"It's so weird to think of us all going back to Hogwarts," Rachel suddenly mused aloud. "I mean today was the first time I'd seen Ash since we broke for summer." The other two nodded in agreement.

"Well she was in Australia with her family wasn't she?"

"I was wondering why she looked so brown," Leshia piped up.

"I can't wait to get back to the dormitory, I've kind of missed everyone," Katie now said with a small smile.

"I think I saw nearly everyone from school come through the bookshop at some point or other," Leshia now put in. "I saw everyone I really wanted to see, and loads I didn't want to see." The other two exchanged a smile, their minds both picturing the pointy angry face of Leshia's nemesis: Damian Allseyer. "I didn't see Owen though."

"What, Owen Gabriel wasn't there every day trailing your every move?" Rachel sniggered amusedly. Leshia grinned and stuck her tongue out at her friend.

"He's not like that. Last year when he wasn't around in summer term everything just sort of settled back down into just being friends."

"Yeah for you maybe," Rachel was continuing with a big smile. "I'm telling you Leesh, that boy is still smitten. So where's he been all summer then? That first week we couldn't get rid of him."

"Been away hasn't he," Leshia replied simply. "I forget where, we've been writing, but most of the time he just sort of complains about his sisters. One of them, Sophie, is coming to Hogwarts this year and he's in a state of shock. It's really funny."

"Little siblings should be banned from coming to Hogwarts," Rachel now grumbled, evidently thinking of the first of her many younger siblings who she had never seen eye to eye with joining Slytherin two years ago. The girls mostly ignored each other at school, but whenever they went home for the holidays they were at loggerheads. Unsurprisingly the tragic divorce of Ron and Lavender had divided the children terribly. As of yet though, Hermia was the only one to truly side with their mother, who she was most alike, but Lavender's break from parenting to travel the world had rather left Ron with all the children depending very much on the kindness of his family and friends to help him with his brood.

Despite all this though, Ron was coping splendidly.

"There's one small grace in my situation," Leshia suddenly spoke stunning her friends into silence. Was she really about to talk about the drastic event that had changed her family for good? "When _she's_ Hogwarts age I'll be long gone."

Leshia could never bring herself to say Evie's name. Katie and Rachel exchanged a significant look, one fraught with the memory of arguments they had been having all summer. Katie desperately wanted to plague Leshia with questions and make her open up about her feelings, but Rachel had never allowed it.

But if Leshia brought it up herself, did that mean she was ready to talk about it?

"She'll still be a part of your life though Leesh," Katie finally spoke; ignoring the wide-eyed glare Rachel was casting her. Leshia looked up sharply to the raven-haired girl and seemed surprised that finally they seemed to be speaking about this terrible weight that had been hanging over them all summer. She couldn't stop now.

"I know. That's the worst part," she finally whispered. "I don't…I don't like being in the same house as her. I hate it there! I just don't understand it. How they can love her so much when she's just this blob that screams and smells. And when she's not screaming or eating she's just sleeping! I don't get it!" Leshia was talking quickly now, extricating herself from these thoughts that had been plaguing her all summer. "All I'm saying is I don't see how they can love her more than me when she's just this…thing."

Katie's eyes crumpled into despair while Rachel gulped a little.

"Leesh they don't love her more than you, there's no way," Katie said sadly.

"Well they do," Leshia complained gruffly. "She's not done anything to earn their love and yet she gets more of it than me. You should see it, every time they lay eyes on her they just go all soppy and…oh it's just wrong."

"She's your sister Leesh, surely that means something," Katie was continuing. Leshia shook her head.

"It means nothing. It means that after nearly fifteen years of it just being the three of us she's come in and taken my parents from me. If anything it means I hate her. I just…I hate her."

The cousins exchanged a look of great sadness. They couldn't hear Leshia talk this way. They just couldn't accept that she felt these things.

"She hasn't taken them away," Rachel now tried.

"Yes she has," Leshia countered quickly. "You know my mum's not coming back to school don't you? And my dad'll be flooing in every day. He won't be at school anymore. He's always been there. He…" Leshia grew quieter until she trailed into silence, her thoughts evidently on her father's notable absence from Hogwarts. The cousins could guess it would not be the same for their friend without her father's subtle yet ever constant presence about the place.

"And you know the worst part of it all?" Leshia finally spoke again. Her friends raised their eyebrows in silent questioning. "I only took bloody Ancient Runes because my mum wanted me to and now she's not even going to be there!"

Rachel sniggered.

"It's not funny," Leshia grumbled, a smirk on her face.

Now Katie sniggered.

"Guys it's really hard," Leshia tried, but she too broke into sniggers.

After the tense conversation it felt good to laugh and the girls kept their conversations to more light-hearted topics until they were called down to dinner. With big smiles on their faces the three girls appeared in the kitchen where Ginny, Harry and their son Michael were already seated at the family table.

"It's about time, food's nearly gone cold," Michael complained once the girls had dropped down at the table.

"We didn't take that long," Katie countered, a slight edge to her voice.

"Don't start," Harry silenced his children before a fight could break out. "Let's try and act like the happy family we are in front of our guests shall we?"

"But dad it's just Rachel and Leshia," Michael complained. "They like _are_ family." For a moment Ginny beamed at her son before she served her husband and the teenagers. Chatter was raucous as the youngsters filled each other in on gossip they had heard about school. Leshia was providing the most undisputed facts, but was happily joining in with the guesswork her friends were engaging in. She didn't think anything could spoil her mood now; it was almost like old times. Almost…

"So Leshia, how's your mum?" The stern look in Ginny's eyes betrayed the fact that she was mortified by how Leshia was acting. She couldn't bear to see her best friend suffer so under Leshia's treatment of her and felt the teenager was behaving out of line. Ginny had always loved Leshia, but knew the girl had a darker streak to her than she saw in any of her children or brothers' children. Leshia was part Malfoy and though her goodness often countered it, the youngster could sometimes act as despicably as those she claimed to hate so.

Leshia turned to stare straight into Ginny's familiar eyes and for a moment the table went absolutely silent.

"Um, I'm sure she's fine," Leshia finally spoke.

"You know what Leshia, I don't think she is," Ginny countered immediately. Harry hung his head and looked at his plate. He didn't want to get involved. Hermione was hurt and he hated seeing one of his oldest friends so desperate, but he would not start on Leshia; the teenager had to work things out for herself. That's how she had always learnt.

"I don't…" Leshia mumbled, her brow darkening, her look growing stony, so like her father. "I don't really…"

"She misses you Leshia, she misses you very very much."

"How do you know?" the girl now demanded, she had been pacified and polite long enough.

"Your mum is my best friend…"

"Yeah and she's my mum. I live there don't I?"

"Do you? It seems to me you've spent most of your summer staying as far away from home as you can." For a moment Leshia stared into Ginny's eyes with Draco's darkness, her shoulders silently moving up and down as though she were panting, but no sound escaped the young girl.

"Mum how could you!"

Everyone turned in surprise to see Katie staring at her mother with a severely moody expression on her pretty face, anger contorting her features.

"What?" Ginny asked sounding worried and surprised.

"You don't understand in the slightest! You don't know what Leshia's been through. How dare you sit there and make her feel small and cruel."

"Katie that's enough," Harry spoke firmly. Katie though, didn't think so.

"Leshia's my guest and you've upset her, well done."

"I said enough." Harry had raised his voice and his message was clear. Katie had overstepped the mark and would be punished later for such impertinence, but the raven-haired girl felt it had been worth it when she glanced across the table to see Leshia's eyes glassy, but a small smile on her face; her gratitude for Katie's solidarity was plastered all over her face.

XXX

Rachel yawned as she stepped out of the grate at 13 Windermere Street, Winchester. The house was warm and cosy and the smell of Italian food still lingered in the messy kitchen. Her father Ron tried to keep it in order, but with six daughters and one son, the single father had rather a lot on his plate. The older girls, Rachel and Emelia especially, tried to help out as much as they could, but there was only so much the teenagers could achieve.

It was still home though and the moment Rachel materialised she smiled broadly. The sound of her sisters' playful screaming came from the family room and so after picking up an apple from the fruit bowl Rachel wandered through to find her father submerged under three of her younger sisters. Nine-year-old Ria and twin seven-year-olds Daniella and Harmony were all in fits of laughter bullying their father while Emelia watched on clapping happily.

"Rachel! Come and help us squash daddy!" Harmony cried out the moment Rachel wandered into the warm sitting room.

"Keep it down girls," Ron laughed, clearly in his element. "Matthew's just got off to sleep, you'll wake him up again."

With one tremendous effort Ron toppled all three girls onto the sofa and finally regained his feet, reaching out an arm to his eldest child.

"How was it? Did my sister nearly poison you with her poor excuse for a home cooked meal?" he called to the girl cheerfully. Rachel grinned and soon reached her father's side, hugging him briefly as he slung his arm about her shoulders.

"Smells like you had take away so what would you know about home cooking dad?" Rachel countered cheekily.

"Hey! I'll have you know I did more than just get take away. I mean there's the deciding what to have bit, waiting for the delivery boy, paying him with all that confusing muggle money and then serving it out…" His account was drowned out by Rachel's drain-like laughter, which instantly brought a smile to the proud father's face. His happiness was etched with sadness though, soon this daughter and two of his others would be leaving again. And though it would be easier to look after only four children instead of seven, it pained him to see them go.

Especially Hermia. Her pain at missing her mother and her refusal to let Ron close had eaten the father up all summer. How was he supposed to reach out to the only one of his children who was as alien to him as her mother had been when they first met?

"Come on you, let's go see you're all packed. There's no turning the train around again if you've forgotten your pyjamas." Rachel followed Ron out of the family room and up the stairs to the small bedroom Rachel had long since claimed for herself. Most of the younger girls had to share, but Rachel had always been given her own space. In her absence it seemed Ria, the sister most like her, had commandeered the room, but the youngster had relinquished it just as readily when Rachel returned for the summer.

The girl's half packed trunk lay sprawled out in the middle of the floor, evidently posing as some sort of gathering point for messy creased clothes, stray books and the odd mismatched shoe.

"Love the organisation Rach, very different," Ron chuckled.

"Hey, you're worse than I am. Don't pretend your cupboards look any better. Only difference is my mess is out for everybody to see." Ron grinned at the girl and nodded.

"I wanted to talk to you about Hermia." Rachel stared in surprise at her father, before she dropped down on her cosy bed, snuggling into the cushions she had propped up against the wall.

"Hermia?"

"Yes Hermia," Ron sighed, taking the desk chair and straddling it the wrong way round so he could lean on the backrest. "I need you to look after her Rachel."

"Sorry?"

"Well I know the pair of you don't see eye to eye, but she's been through a lot with your mother going. You know how close they were and she needs someone to look after her. God knows she won't let me near, so I want you to promise me that you'll try when you get to school." For a moment Rachel stared at her father in amazed bemusement.

"Dad she hates me," the girl finally uttered eliciting a snort from her father.

"No she does not hate you," he assured her. "You just don't get on, that doesn't mean you hate each other does it?"

"Well, she _is_ a Slytherin…"

"Don't," Ron said and for the first time he sounded quite sharp. "Family first Rachel, then all other factors. She's your sister, your closest sister in age, she's next in line after you, you have to help her through."

Rachel hung her head and nodded, feeling a little ashamed.

"Dad what happens when families break down?" the girl finally asked meekly. She reached across for a large pillow and hugged it tightly to her chest. Ron frowned and cocked his head to the side.

"What do you mean sweetheart? Like when your mother left or…"

"No I mean like when a family member vows to never love her parents again and actually seems to mean it." Rachel fell silent, staring sadly at her duvet cover. Her father instantly knew what she was talking about, despite his being rather handicapped by being slow on the uptake when it came to teenage emotions and dramas.

"Leshia will forgive her parents in the end Rachel, you know she will," the young man sighed, feeling instantly for his good friend Hermione, wishing her to be free of the pain she was feeling at her family troubles.

"I just hate watching her go it alone dad, she's not as strong as she thinks she is." Ron laughed abruptly earning him a quick glare from Rachel.

"I'm sorry," Ron excused himself in his mirth. "She's just so like Draco; thinks she's invincible eh? She'll need you in the end Rach and until then you'll just have to put up with her I'm afraid."

Rachel sighed and nodded, wondering why she was never the centre of the drama. Leshia and Katie were such strong-minded young women who got themselves into all sorts of emotional dramas that Rachel never seemed to get a look in. Even her family breakdown hadn't really caused a stir. After sighing a second time the young girl looked up into her father's comforting eyes and smiled.

"Thanks for being my dad. You're the best."

XXX

Leshia materialised in the grate at the Malfoy Townhouse to be met by a wail of sound. Instantly she reached to cover her ears; Evie was at it again. Pacing the landing on the second floor Hermione was trying to pacify her youngest daughter to no avail. Evie was upset about something and was hell bent on expressing it to the tired house. With an angry profanity muttered under her breath Leshia slung her bag from over her shoulder and dropped it on the large table she always associated with her father.

While she was growing up he would rarely be seen parted from the grand table, his life-consuming work sprawled out over it. For a moment Leshia reached out to touch his chair, the chair he had always sat in, the one she had wiled years away sitting beside begging for his attention. In anger she pulled her hand back. Fair was it? That she had had to beg for Draco's attention while she was growing up, but now he happily bestowed it on her newborn sister who returned none of it.

"All she does is stare at you," Leshia grumbled, stalking out into the hallway. The noise upstairs was bound to be unbearable and so after deciding against heading up to her room the teenager silently snuck across the hall to the sitting room beyond the formal lounge, which had long been dubbed the 'muggle room' due to the presence of the television set Leshia had once found to be her only companion during her childhood.

The girl pulled the doors shut behind herself and before getting comfortable in the wide and cosy sofa. Her blanket lay on the edge, lovingly folded and looked after. For a moment Leshia wondered how many times her mother had unfolded and refolded the old thing, crying into it about the state of her family, but such thoughts churned her stomach, so after dragging the warm wool about her shoulders she flopped back on the cushions and turned the TV on, instantly finding one of those hilarious cartoons her parents disliked her watching.

Draco was in his study when he heard the TV being switched on. For a moment a smile slid onto his grave face; Leshia was back and not barricaded in her room for once. Taking this rare opportunity he climbed to his feet, his customary glass of whiskey in hand and strode from the room. Once he reached the muggle room he paused, wondering whether he should knock, but then getting angry with himself for considering such formalities in his own house with his own daughter, he pushed the door open and walked in. At first he feared Leshia to be asleep, but as he wandered round to sit in his armchair he realised the girl was simply frozen, not sure whether to bolt or to stay and try and ignore her father.

"You're back early," Draco remarked with a sigh. He had a bad headache, a crying induced headache.

"Yeah, got tired I guess," Leshia replied uneasily, forcing an awkward laugh at a bad joke on TV. Draco smiled sadly and sat down in his armchair.

"You know earlier, at the Leaky Cauldron, you didn't have to run out on your friends, I wasn't there to harass you," he spoke softly. Leshia's skin crawled.

"I know."

They lulled into silence while Leshia forced herself to concentrate on the large screen and Draco watched his daughter with longing for a time when she did not feel such…indifference to him. The worst part of his heartbreak was that Leshia didn't seem to hate him, or even dislike him; she just didn't seem to care at all. He couldn't allow himself to think this was true, but it certainly did feel like it.

Upstairs Evie gave a particularly loud and miserable yell. Leshia twitched and briefly shut her eyes to drown it all out. Draco noticed.

"You used to do that too. Always surprised me by how loud you could get when I didn't think it was possible. She's just like you," he blurted out, unsure of why he was telling Leshia this when it would most likely make her upset. As he had predicted Leshia's eyes flew onto him and Draco felt he had better carry on before she had the chance to speak, "Look sweetheart I'm so sorry that this summer has been all about Evie. I'm sorry we haven't been able to do anything together." For a small while Leshia and Draco looked at each other, their identical grey eyes locked in a desperate gaze. Neither wanted this, but how to stop it now it had started? Slowly Leshia nodded and looked back to the TV. The moment had passed.

This lack of response made Draco's temper spike a little. Up above Evie's wailing grew louder. How was he expected to make amends while Leshia pretended he didn't exist? Pretended his words meant nothing? Pretended she didn't care?

"Don't shut me out Leshia," he finally managed brusquely, returning to the one state of mind that had always seen him through.

Quite suddenly his daughter climbed to her feet, strode over to the TV, angrily switched off the switch and strode away to the door where without turning to look at her heartbroken father she called back to him,

"I've changed my mind. I will be working tomorrow, I need the money." With this thinly veiled excuse she was gone closing the door reasonably behind her. Leshia had learned not to slam doors, play loud music or break rules this summer. She had been ideally behaved…her parents had not even the excuse to talk to her while punishing her because she never did anything wrong anymore.

Leshia collected her bag from the kitchen and ran up the stairs two at a time. On the landing Hermione was surprised by her daughter's sudden appearance, but before she could speak the teenager merely nodded her head minutely to her mother before closing herself away behind her heavy door. Moments later the sound of music wafted out, just quiet enough to be acceptable, just loud enough to drain out the horrid sounds of the interloper.

XXX

Flourish and Blott were very surprised to see Leshia back the day after her supposed final day, but were happy to accept her help. The girl didn't get back till six-o clock when she found her parents in frosty moods. Evidently they'd been arguing again.

"Leshia," Hermione called out when she heard the front door quietly open and close.

"Yeah it's me," the girl called back, all set on darting up to her room.

"Darling you've had a letter." Leshia paused on the doormat and looked into the kitchen to see her mother at the stove stirring dinner. Evie was nowhere to be seen and so with a heavy sigh Leshia stepped inside the room the family had once spent so much of their time in.

"Have you had a nice day?" Hermione asked her daughter turning at the stove to face Leshia, who shrugged.

"Yeah it was fine," the teenager replied. "So um, where's my letter?" Hermione nearly winced, but inhaled bravely before nodding towards the large cabinet along the wall. Leshia made a grab for the letter, realising with a big smile that the handwriting on the front belonged to Owen Gabriel, her once crush. Hermione felt tears sting her eyes when she saw her little girl's face light up and only wished she still had the power to make her feel such happiness. Lately, she only seemed to make the girl angry.

"Thanks," Leshia said simply, before she darted from the room towards the stairs. Only once she was safely in her room did Leshia tear the letter open and drop down on her bed to read,

_Hey Shorty  
Well, I'm back in the civilised world again. Seems unreal. I feel like I've been away for six years, not six weeks. Hope you haven't been getting yourself in any trouble. Any chance of meeting later on to catch up before we get the train back to school tomorrow?  
I know you'll say yes, so I'm not going to bother writing any more, my arm's too tired.  
Owen_

Leshia smiled a little as she reread the letter a second time. Owen was back! Without thinking she jumped to her feet and wandered over to her desk where a parchment and quill lay over a recently finished holiday essay Professor Snape had set them for Potions. With all the time spent locked in her room Leshia had been given plenty of time to put a good effort in and she was sure the grumpy old Potions Master was going to be pleasantly surprised at her work. Shoving the rolled up ten foot essay aside Leshia picked up a scrap of parchment she had already doodled over and penned a quick response to her friend,

_Owen,  
About time you got back. Some of us have been working hard this summer, not swanning off to exotic locations. Meet me at the Leaky Cauldron at 11, give me some time to break curfew. You'd better have brought me a present!  
Leshia _

With the parchment in hand she rolled it up tightly and sealed it with a little wax, before she climbed to her feet and opened her window. Sitting up on the broad windowsill she flung her hand out into the evening. The girl waited for a few moments, impatiently flicking the catch on her window, until finally a small tawny owl landed on her arm looking ruffled.

"About time you showed up," Leshia told the owl bemusedly. She had never liked Auralia, the Malfoys' family owl, who had never taken a liking to Leshia since she had found it highly amusing as a toddler to pull the bird's feathers out. "Here, can you take this to Owen Gabriel?" The bird gave an indignant hoot as Leshia affixed the letter to her leg. "_Please_," Leshia added forcedly, imagining her letter pecked to a million pieces if she didn't show the bird some respect.

Quite suddenly Auralia took off and swooped out of sigh beyond the tall trees at the bottom of the garden. Leshia watched her go with an excited fluttering in her stomach; she was going to see Owen again at last! Now the only problem was sneaking out. Though Leshia was sure her exhausted parents would make it an early night – indeed they always seemed to crash into bed around ten thirty these days – she couldn't take the risk of waltzing straight out the front door. Irritated, the girl clicked her nail against the window frame, thinking how best to get out of her room. Her eyes scanned her room for inspiration and fell on the broom lying abandoned in the corner of the room where she had dumped it the moment she got home from school.

A triumphant smile pulled at her face as Leshia realised she could simply fly down from her window and then sneak out the alley at the bottom of the garden. The Leaky Cauldron was a fifteen-minute walk from the house, so if she left at around twenty to eleven she was sure to get there on time.

Feeling invigorated by the prospect of the first mischief she had caused all summer, Leshia climbed down from her windowsill and shut the window. The smell of her mother's fabulous cooking wafted up from below and for a moment Leshia forgot about the way she had been acting all summer and wanted to go down and have a taster. Quite suddenly though a loud bawling sound erupted from beyond Leshia's wall making the girl's good mood plummet frostily.

Leshia frowned when she realised no one was coming to see to the crying baby in the room next door. Where was her father? Five minutes passed in which Leshia's head started to pound. She couldn't take the noise anymore and so after an angry profanity cursed under her breath the fourteen-year-old climbed to her feet and carefully pushed her door open. The sound out in the hall was far louder than in the protection of her room, but Leshia managed to fight her instinct to pull back and wandered out.

"Mum?" she called out cautiously. "She's crying," she added unnecessarily when no reply came. Awkwardly the girl stepped from one foot onto the other, glancing at her parents' open door to see her father wasn't in their room. "Mum!" Still no response. Leshia frowned worriedly and looked over her shoulder into her sister's dimly lit room. "Agh damn it," she sighed and slowly approached the door. Very slowly she pushed it open wider than it already was and approached the beautiful ornate cot that had once belonged to her many years ago. Inside Evie lay squirming and red in the face, the awful smell that was wafting up from the baby indicated what had her so distressed.

"Oy," Leshia uttered when she was stood over the baby. Evie's eyes had been squeezed shut in her despair, but suddenly she opened them at the strangely familiar voice and looked up into a face she barely knew. Quite suddenly she stopped crying, interested in who this person was. The two sisters locked their eyes on each other both amazed by the other. Leshia took a step back. Evie let out a cry of distress. The moment was gone.

"I'm coming," Hermione's voice called out from the stairs and her quick footsteps sounded. Leshia started backing away from the crying baby guiltily. At the door she met her mother, who looked simply astounded to see her older daughter backing out of her youngest's room.

"Leshia?" Hermione uttered in surprise.

"I didn't do anything," Leshia quickly stammered. "She was crying and you and dad…look I didn't touch her okay?" With this the teenager fled and quickly hid herself back inside the safety of her room leaving her mother standing in the baby's doorway with a small shaky smile on her face.

XXX

Later that evening Leshia further surprised her mother into smiling spontaneously when she showed up for dinner five minutes early, offering to lay the table. Draco, who had been loitering in the hall heard his daughter's offer of help and came striding into the kitchen in time to catch Hermione dabbing at her eyes with her apron. The parents exchanged a hopeful smile while Leshia was taking out the placemats from the sideboard, oblivious to the silent communication going on behind her back.

"Want some help?" Draco offered when Leshia straightened up with the table settings. The girl looked up at him blankly and shook her head.

"I'm good thanks," she said simply and started placing the tablemats out.

"You can help me carve the meat darling," Hermione called out to her husband, a very silly smile on her face. Draco grinned and ambled across the kitchen to his wife, doing as instructed, keeping a surreptitious eye on their daughter, who had laid the table in expert time. He hated admitting it, but a small part of him was suspicious of her intentions. Hermione had told him all about her earlier surprising behaviour in Evie's bedroom and now this voluntary time with her parents? He knew his daughter well enough to suspect that something was up, but he didn't want to let it spoil his mood and tried not to worry about it.

Soon the three of them were sat at the table enjoying Hermione's delightful cooking. Though Hermione and Draco revelled in this time with their child, it was marred by the feeling of strangeness that this was the first time they had sat down to dinner together since the very first evening of the summer holidays. Leshia's mood was more pleasant than it had been all summer and occasionally she even granted her parents a smile.

"So have you packed everything you need for school?" Hermione asked brightly when a silence lulled over the table. Leshia looked up sharply and nodded.

"Yeah."

"Do you need me to wash anything for you?"

"No I'm good."

"Are you sure?" Leshia's jaw twitched and she nodded slowly, turning back to her meal, withdrawing again from the conversation. Hermione caught Draco's eyes, her face crumpled in upset, what more could they do? How were they supposed to get Leshia through if she wouldn't even talk to them?

Talking about school made Leshia hurt. Whenever she really sat and thought about the fact that her parents wouldn't be returning to Hogwarts a cold sinking feeling weighed down in Leshia's chest. Yes she would still be seeing her father on a daily basis, but the fact was that when the bell went at the end of the day he would be gone. Their luxurious once-family chambers would lie silent, gathering dust, never again to welcome Leshia in to a warm and cosy family scene.

Plagued by these thoughts Leshia's eyelids grew heavy and her eyes fell to the centre of the table in a world of her own. Hermione noticed and it pained her. Why was it that amidst her friends Leshia could revert back to her charming self, but around her parents seemed to be a new person? The girl was so full of anger. So…so like Draco.

XXX

Leshia's plan went off without a hitch and at ten to eleven she was walking in to the Leaky Cauldron. She had got there rather quicker than she had expected as several times she had broke into a nervous little run when she thought someone was following her. The pub was packed full of cheery patrons and familiar faces. Leshia kept her hood over her head and made her way over to the bar where Tom the barkeeper was polishing a very large tumbler.

"Tom," Leshia whispered, hoping not to draw attention to herself in and amongst the crowds. She had become friendly with the burly barman during her summer as a regular on Diagon Alley and, on the odd occasion where she was desperate for a legitimate reason to stay out of the house and the bookshop had no need for her, she had worked for Tom clearing tables and keeping the kitchen clean. Tom liked the youngster.

"Should you be out and about at this time?" the grisly old man replied inconspicuously, a big smile on his face. Leshia shrugged her shoulders in a grimace.

"I'm meeting a friend Tom. Please don't tell my parents."

"Leshia you're underage, you're not allowed to be in here at this time." Tom seemed amused.

"Yeah I know, but I'll stay out the way and well…you sort of owe me, you said so yourself." Leshia squirmed a little at having to call in a favour. She was right in saying Tom owed her, she had kept quiet about a lot of things she had seen happening in the respectful pub and had worked for pittance. Tom grinned a toothy smile at the girl.

"You're more Malfoy than I realised," he chuckled. "Very well then, but you stay put in that booth over there in the corner. What can I get you?"

"Just a jug of pumpkin juice would be great," Leshia beamed at the man, before she scampered through the jolly crowds to the booth Tom had indicated. From this secluded spot she peered out from under her hood at the patrons of the pub able to gaze at them without any retribution. Thankfully no one too well known to the girl had graced the Cauldron that night; otherwise she would not have wanted to stay. At eleven on the dot Owen walked in and shiftily glanced around to see where Leshia had hidden herself. It was the girl's frantic waving that gave her position away, and after a small smile Owen slinked across the pub, avoiding any unwanted attention.

"Evening Malfoy," he greeted his smaller friend cheerfully before he dropped down next to the girl and awkwardly half hugged half shook her hand.

"You're practically black," Leshia exclaimed in wonder, staring at Owen's highly tanned skin in amazement. He had evidently been lying under a warm sun all summer. The tall young man grinned dashingly and shook his head.

"Been a long summer hasn't it, so why do you still look exactly the same as the day I left? Haven't you been out at all?"

"Not much actually, been working mainly." Owen frowned.

"Working? As what?"

"Just at the bookshop again." Leshia didn't want to talk about her summer, but Owen wasn't going to let her glaze over the fact that she hadn't done anything all summer.

"Why have you been working? I've been to your house Malfoy, your family's loaded."

"I wanted to earn my own money," Leshia lied easily. "I've nearly made enough for a new broom!"

"Leesh your broom is one of the best," Owen assured the girl. "Besides, you love that broom."

"Yeah well, not anymore," Leshia girl countered miserably, unable to express how much she'd turned her heart away from the most precious gift she had received from her father in first year. She couldn't explain how she felt a deep sadness wash over her whenever she touched it.

"So if you've been working all summer, what did your parents think of it?" Owen had grown to understand Draco when last year the frightening teacher had grilled him in a one-on-one session and practically force-fed him whiskey. The youngster had been into the Lion's den and had come out alive and with a more thorough understanding of what made Draco Malfoy tick.

"They didn't think about it, not really. _She_ takes up most of their time." Owen frowned.

"Your sister?" Leshia hung her head a little, her eyes disappearing behind her heavy hood. "Leesh tell me you're still not hung up on that. I told you before I went away you have to make an effort, not just turn your back on them all." Leshia shifted uncomfortably at Owen's true words. Before he had gone away he had seen the way Leshia had responded to Evie's birth and had spoken words of warning to his friend; she had to get over this issue now before it snowballed. She had ignored him it seemed.

"Coming from the guy who's spent the last six weeks moaning about _his_ little sisters," Leshia forced herself to laugh, forced herself to change the subject.

"Hey, my little sisters aren't innocent little babies. My sisters are fire breathing dragons, I'll tell you that!" Leshia laughed properly now, the darkness gone, her mood restored. Owen kept her in stitches while they drank their way through three jugs of pumpkin juice. The evening was drawing to a close and closing time was approaching. All about the pub drunken patrons were stumbling around in overly delirious or foul moods. The youngsters felt giddy too, it had been wonderful catching up after such a long time apart.

Their giddiness however, was about to come to an abrupt stop. Leshia had just been mid-raucous laughter when a sudden nasty presence washed over the youngsters. Before they could understand what had happened a tall black-clad figure sat down on the bench, blocking the escape route out of the booth.

"Professor Snape," Owen gabbled in shock. For a moment the hook-nosed teacher stared at Owen with an immense amount of displeasure before his eyes slid on to Leshia, who had hung her hooded head, hiding her face behind the dark cloth.

"Mr Gabriel, Miss Malfoy," Snape finally spoke. Like a jack-in-the-box Leshia's head flew up, her defiant gaze meeting her father's friend's steely one. "What exactly are a pair of underage pupils doing in a pub at one-o clock in the morning?"

"Catching up before school starts," Leshia replied honestly, her tone entirely cocky, her manner infuriating and childish. Owen glanced briefly to his friend and shook his head ever so slightly. They had been caught and had to try and back out of this situation in tact; winding up a frosty looking Snape would not help matters.

"Miss Malfoy you might try to remember exactly who you are talking to, you are in serious trouble. Do not make matters worse for yourself."

"How can I be in trouble? You can't do anything to me yet, we're not even at school!" Snape raised one eyebrow at the girl before pulling a pocket watch from his robes.

"By my count the time is seven minutes to one, which would make it officially the first day of school, which would make me officially your teacher again Miss Malfoy. So I repeat, do not make your situation any worse. Now both of you come with me."

Leshia wanted very much to argue, but Owen shook his head at the girl and dragged her along by her elbow, leading her after the teacher who had already stalked out into the warm night.

"Let's just push him over and run," Leshia whispered to her friend, who managed a broad grin despite his grim mood.

"Even though I know you could outrun him Leesh, that wouldn't exactly do you any favours." Leshia smiled cheekily and shrugged, feeling a familiar warm thumping feeling in her chest: adrenalin! She had gone so long without it that the return of adrenalin and mischief made Leshia feel herself again for the first time all summer. Snape had come to a halt outside the pub in the dreary street.

"You, Mr Gabriel, how did you get here?" Owen shrugged.

"My older sister apparated me here," he replied truthfully. Snape thought hard for a moment, he had a duty to both youngsters, but wanted more than anything to escort Leshia home to her parents.

"You are to floo home immediately. I will be writing to your parents to explain your behaviour." Owen sighed, but his disappointment was not for himself, but rather for his friend. If he was being sent home by the floo network then Snape would be personally escorting Leshia home.

"But…" the boy began, looking at Leshia.

"Now Mr Gabriel." Owen smiled meekly at his friend one last time before he stalked back inside, a definite edge to his walk.

"You, Miss Malfoy, take hold of my arm," Snape next ordered leaving Leshia watching the potion's master with a grimace, as though touching him was the last thing on the planet she wanted to do. "_Now_." Feeling dejected and a little worried about what was going to happen Leshia reached out and wrapped her arm around Severus Snape's. She couldn't help but cringe, though this was not because of the suffocating moment of blackness that accompanied Snape's apparating them to her front gate. The moment the world remade itself Leshia lurched away from her teacher and flung the gate open, storming up it to the front door. Snape was right at her side and before she could open it with her keys the potion's master had knocked loudly on the grand door.

"What are you doing?" Leshia demanded. Snape though ignored the teenager, a small snake of a smile winding its way onto his face. After five minutes of silence the front door finally creaked open revealing a tired-looking Draco dressed only in a pair of house trousers that he had hurriedly pulled on over his boxer shorts. Though initially he looked guarded, the moment he saw who stood upon the step his face grew stony. After staring incredulously into his daughter's face Draco looked up into his friend's eyes, a hard look on his handsome face.

"What is the meaning of this?" he finally asked. Snape reared himself up into his most haughty pose.

"I just caught your daughter at the Leaky Cauldron with Owen Gabriel where she has been since eleven-o clock tonight," Snape explained. Leshia turned quickly to glare up at him, silently wondering how he knew how long she'd been there.

"You what?" Draco demanded, his eyes falling to Leshia's face. "You snuck out to meet that _boy_ in a pub in the middle of the bloody _night_?" The teenager narrowed her eyes slightly at her father. "Oh get inside," Draco snapped brusquely and he reached out, took hold of Leshia's arm and dragged her inside. She extricated her arm from his hand as quickly as she could, all set on storming upstairs. "My study Alecia, don't you dare go up there." For a moment Leshia seemed less assured of her mood and glanced anxiously at the dark arch under the stairs that led towards Draco's enclosed and frightening study.

"Now," her father stated darkly. Leshia sighed heavily and took one last look at the grinning Snape, before she turned on heal and stormed off towards the archway. Only once she had disappeared through it did Draco turn around with one eyebrow raised.

"I thought it best to bring her straight home," Snape remarked casually, doing a poor job at hiding the mirth he evidently felt at causing Leshia such grief.

"Yes, thank you Severus," Draco replied brusquely. "Tell me honestly, what were they doing?" For a moment Snape thought of how much worse he could make Leshia suffer were he to make up a little white lie, but the old Potion Master was not a deceitful man. He would tell the truth.

"They were talking and drinking pumpkin juice." For a moment Draco looked relieved, but then his face grew stony once more.

"Thanks Severus." After a slight incline of his head Snape backed away from the door and promptly disappeared leaving Draco staring at the step he had vacated. After he had closed the front door and stepped back into the hall he glanced up at the landing. No doubt Hermione would be lying awake, wondering what was going on, but for now he couldn't comfort her. Leshia needed to know she had overstepped the line and all summer his wife had been preventing him from taking a firm hand with their daughter, stopped him from shaking some sense into her, but now she had finally crossed one of the boundaries Draco was going to use it to try and talk some sense into the girl.

With his face arranged in a steely expression the troubled father stalked down the dark corridor to his study where Leshia had awkwardly made herself comfortable on the settee that lined the wall between two grand bookcases. She still looked so very small despite the fact that soon she would be turning fifteen.

"We've been so patient with you," Draco spoke as he walked in the room. Quickly he shut the door behind himself so his voice didn't carry up the hallway to Hermione's ears. He didn't want her interrupting what had to be said. Leshia hadn't seen her father so out of sorts in a long time, he was furious, terrifyingly furious! "And this is how you repay us? By sneaking out in the middle of the night to a pub?"

"I couldn't think of anywhere else to meet," Leshia cried out indignantly. Draco stared at his daughter for a few moments his eyes wide at her rebuttal.

"How dare you sneak out in the middle of the night full stop!" he finally countered loudly. "Anything could have happened to you."

"Well what do you care anyway?" the girl grumbled under her breath. Again Draco was silenced, his shoulders rising and falling rapidly with pent up anger and frustration.

"Don't twist things round Alecia, you're the one who has pulled away from us not vice versa," the furious father finally managed, his eyes gleaming dangerously. "You're breaking your mother's heart and you don't even care." Leshia looked for a moment as though she wanted to argue more, but quite suddenly she slouched down on the bench, staring up at her father with what could only be called a teenage surly expression. She was done talking. Draco though, was not.

"Perfect demonstration my dearest," he exclaimed with a cruel smile on his face. "Exactly my point. Why we've let you get away with this behaviour all summer is beyond me. I know it was tough on you with Evie and everything, but you chose to act the way you're acting now. If you'd only open your eyes you'd see how like you she is and how we still love you just as much as we always have."

Leshia rolled her eyes and slouched even further down.

"Damn it Alecia you will respect me." For a moment the pair of them locked eyes, Leshia's half closed in feigned-boredom and Draco's wide in anger. He didn't know what else to do apart from striding across the room and physically shaking the girl. "Fine," the father finally exclaimed loudly, throwing his arms up in the air. "Have it your way; push us away when you need us the most, but you had better well understand that we're not going anywhere my girl. You only get one set of parents. We're yours and we're not going anywhere, so I suggest you deal with it. In the meantime tomorrow you will be joining Professor Snape in his carriage on the way to school in punishment for your actions tonight."

This at last wrenched a reaction from the cantankerous teenager, who sat up straight a look of livid anger on her beautiful features. Through an immense amount of restraint she held her tongue though and merely got to her feet. At the door to her father's study she turned around and cast him such a filthy glare it left Draco tossing and turning all night. Had he imagined the hatred in her perfect face?

XXX

Hermione lay in bed listening to the raised muffled voices down below in the study. Her heart was pounding uncomfortably fast and a cold sweat was gathering on her brow. The storm she had been trying to head off all summer was going ahead full throttle and part of her wanted to throw a tantrum to voice her displeasure at Draco's breaking her trust. He had to understand that they couldn't push Leshia. Hermione felt her husband ought to know how badly Leshia would respond to this 'tough cop' way of doing things. The girl was too much like her father and if she felt she was being told what to do her natural instinct was to defy.

Quite suddenly scampering footsteps on the stairs indicated that the argument was over and as Leshia's door shut forcefully Hermione sat up in bed. Draco would no doubt be drowning his sorrows in a bottle of whiskey down below and so after pulling a thick cardigan about her shoulders Hermione descended the stairs, her face set in a stubborn expression. As she had guessed Draco was sat in the chair behind his desk, a heavyset tumbler in his hand, his face stony.

"And did it work?" his wife asked the moment she flounced in, shutting the door behind herself. Draco glanced up, one eyebrow raised. He was in no mood for games. "Does she love us again?"

"Oh don't start," Draco complained icily.

"Why not? You evidently did on Leshia."

"Do you even know what she's done?" Draco raised his voice surprising Hermione into losing her defiant frown. Quickly she shook her head.

"What has she done Draco?"

"Sit down and I'll tell you."

"But…"

"Sit down!" Her face contorted in hurt Hermione lowered herself into one of the chairs opposite Draco's grand desk. Seeing her so upset at his firm manner Draco softened his hard features, but only just. "Severus was at the door just now," he explained, sounding forcedly light-hearted; an act Hermione saw through.

"What did he want?" she asked suspiciously.

"He was returning our wayward daughter from the pub." For a moment Hermione's eyes went wide.

"She was at the pub?"

"That's what I said isn't it?" Draco looked away from his incredulous wife in annoyance, kicking at he desk leg. "She was with that Owen Gabriel boy."

"What were they doing?" Hermione couldn't quite believe her ears. That Leshia, who had been perfectly behaved all summer, would suddenly sneak out the house in the dead of night to go to a pub and meet up with a boy was certainly farfetched and hard to believe.

"Severus said they were talking and drinking pumpkin juice," Draco replied and the look of relief that spread across Hermione's face annoyed him more.

"Well that's not so bad, she probably wanted to see him before school started."

"Not that bad?" Draco demanded. "Hermione our fourteen-year-old daughter has just been dragged back from the pub at one in the morning. How can that not be bad?"

"All I'm saying is that it could have been worse," his wife countered, feeling her temper rising. She didn't think she could handle another argument, especially not on this night, Leshia's last night home for three months. She hadn't been separated from her daughter for any real length of time since she had been rescued from her kidnappers two years previously and the prospect of being so far away from her oldest daughter, who had spent all summer pretending she was not part of the family, was quite horrifying.

"You mean she could have been wasted?" Draco countered cruelly.

"Draco don't! She's not like that. I don't want to fight, not tonight." Draco seethed for a moment, ashamedly wanting to take his anger out on someone, anyone, but Hermione's pleading face wrenched Draco's mood out from under him. Instantly his expression softened.

"I'm sorry," he managed meekly. "I know you've been dreading tomorrow."

"I just wish she could have stayed home today instead of going in to work. I really thought we could spend some time together, just the two of us. I was going to take her shopping," Hermione explained weakly. She seemed so sad and so pathetic it made Draco's blood boil all over again. How dare Leshia do this to her mother!

"I know."

"You'll have to make her come home every few weeks to see me Draco, you know she won't if we let her decide." Hermione seemed suddenly desperate, as though Leshia was already halfway to school.

"Babe don't work yourself up about it, you know she'll come round in the end," Draco tried comfortingly and after downing the drink in his glass he climbed to his feet, walked round his desk and lifted Hermione to her feet so that he could embrace her firmly. As she buried her face in his chest he had the sneaking suspicion his wife had started crying, again.

"I just feel like I'm losing her all over again," the fraught mother miserably sniffed. "My little girl. And the worst part is it's all my fault!" Draco suddenly pulled away, taking Hermione's arms in his hands, staring hard into her tearful eyes.

"Don't say that. It's like you're wishing Evie away."

"Oh I'd never!" Hermione exclaimed passionately. "I just wish Leshia wasn't trying to make me choose." Draco tightened his grip on his wife and leaned in to his her forehead.

"She's a teenager. What's worse, is that she's a Malfoy teenager," he explained quietly. Despite herself Hermione managed a little laugh between her tears. "She's going to have to find her own way if she won't accept our guidance. All we can do is support her from the wings and make sure she always knows we're there for her."

"When did you get so wise?" Hermione asked with a smile, sniffing away the last of her tears.

"Well come on, I learnt from the best. You're like the wisest person I know." Hermione's smile grew tenfold and she lunged up at her husband, kissing him firmly.

"And in the meantime we have a new little girl to get to know don't we?" she finally spoke when she pulled away. Draco smiled and nodded.

"Yeah," he exhaled pensively and he swung his arm round Hermione's shoulder, leading her out of the study towards the stairs. "Let's try and get things right this time round." His wife laughed, seeing his joke for what it was and with a lighter heart she allowed Draco to guide her back up to their room.

XXX

Leshia was unpleasant over breakfast, positively hostile on the walk to the station and silent on the platform while her tearful mother tried to say goodbye to her. The fact that she had Evie attached to her front in a baby carrier wasn't softening Leshia's evident foul mood, which she was still carrying from the moment Draco had sentenced her with her punishment. Across the platform pupils were staring interestedly at their once-teacher and the baby. Several of Hermione's more favoured pupils came to greet her and coo over Evie and while Hermione tried her best to accommodate them with a bright smile, her thoughts were almost entirely on her oldest daughter, who was standing, head hanging, in a world of her own.

Draco had already carted her trunk onto the train, reigning in Leshia's almost entirely feral cat Philly on his lead. The girl had rather ignored the cat she had once so desperately wanted, but didn't want to give him up just yet. He had made the journey back with her in the summer and would be coming back to school, but whether she would see him once they got there was highly unlikely. Severus had readily agreed to chaperoning Leshia on the long train journey and stood a little way down the platform watching the awkwardness the Malfoy family represented with a cruel smile.

"I promise I'll write you several times a week," Hermione told her daughter with a brave smile. She was fighting back the tears. Leshia merely nodded simply. "If ever you need me I can be at Hogwarts in a flash! You know that." Again a nod. Hermione was finding it harder to fight back the tears. "Well come on, give me a hug and then get on the train," she forced bravely and she reached for her daughter, who looked for a moment as though she was going to give in and embrace her mother, but suddenly Evie started kicking her legs and Leshia froze refusing to be pulled into her mother's arms while her sister lay in the way.

"Darling, she's just…" Hermione began, a tear rolling over her cheek.

"I'll take her," Draco said firmly. The look he cast Leshia was a dark one as he reached in and easily lifted the baby from the carrier. With Evie out the way Leshia allowed her mother to pull her into a firm embrace, which she weakly returned.

"I wish this summer could have been different," Hermione whispered into Leshia's hair. "I wish you could have been happy. I'm going to miss you so much darling."

"I'll miss you too," Leshia whispered. Though she had barely voiced it Hermione still heard and it brought a big smile to her teary face.

"We love you Leshia. We love you more than ever before. I just wish you could see that." After one last squeeze Hermione let Leshia pull away. The girl offered her mother a doleful smile before she turned quickly on heal and strode towards the carriage Snape had holed up in.

"See you at dinner Leshia," Draco called after the girl, but she was still far too mad with her father to pay him any attention. Once she had reached the carriage Leshia inhaled sharply, before she climbed on the train not trusting herself to look back and see the weeping state she had left her mother in. Snape was sitting in the furthest cabin to the front and as Leshia passed her laughing schoolmates, happily reliving their summer holidays with one another a heavy weight grew in Leshia's stomach. Snape's carriage door was shut and after staring at the teacher through the glass for a few moments Leshia pulled the door open. Without a word to the horrid man she sat down as far from him as she could, slouching down and crossing her arms. From her bag she pulled out a muggle music player, which she would take advantage of until the magical field around the school would prevent her from using it again till she left for Christmas.

As she plugged the white headphones into her ears Snape raised an eyebrow in her direction. Leshia ignored him and turned to look the other way as she turned the muggle music on. It was loud and fast paced and within seconds Snape had extricated his wand from his pocket and pointed it in Leshia's direction. Both ear buds flew out of the girl's ears and hovered five inches away from her head.

"What are you doing?" Leshia demanded. "Just because I have to sit with you doesn't mean I have to talk to you." Instantly realising she wasn't on holiday anymore Leshia quickly added a humble, "Sir."

"For starters," Snape spoke slowly and clearly. "You are going to blow your hearing out with such rubbish and you seem to have a hard time listening as it is." Leshia stared icily into the teacher's eyes. "Secondly, I have no desire to listen to this noise you call music for the rest of the day. So either you turn it down or I will confiscate that _thing_ and you shall have to sit in silence for the remainder of the trip."

"Fine," Leshia managed civilly, keeping the hatred out of her voice, though it was evident on her face. Snape rolled his eyes, but swished his wand once more sending the ear buds flying back into Leshia's ears. She quickly turned down her music and slouched down low in her chair until finally the train pulled out of the station leaving a sea of waving parents behind.

Teacher and girl stayed in silence for hours while Leshia dozed off to her music and Snape engulfed himself in a large and ominous book, but then, unexpectedly the batteries in Leshia's music player died.

"What?" she grumbled, taking it out of its case to study what had happened. She had charged it so that it ought to last the day. Casting Snape a foul look – his magical meddling must have done something to it – Leshia stuffed the muggle device into the top of her bag and lay back with a heavy sigh. They were still a good few hours away and with nothing to distract her Leshia was sure she was going to go mad. Philly, who might have offered a slight change to the humdrum of the journey was sleeping silently curled up at Snape's side.

'Traitor,' Leshia thought to herself grimly.

Her boredom soon started to affect her teacher, who couldn't concentrate with the girl's incessant sighing and leg swinging. Every five seconds she moved to fidget with something new.

"You only have yourself to blame," he finally said sharply, looking up with a thunderous look. Leshia glanced up at him with a frown.

"Sir I don't think it's any of your business," the girl replied as politely as she could.

"Oh no? Not only did you make it my business and everyone else's at the Cauldron last night, but now your father has made it my business as well."

"I doubt he told you you could interrogate me about the whole thing," Leshia grumbled. Snape smiled ever so slightly, making Leshia fidget even more in worry that Draco _had_ given Snape permission to grill her on her behaviour.

"I always knew you were a spoilt and selfish sort of girl," Snape was continuing. "How nice of you to prove me right after all these years."

"You know what sir, I don't think you know what you're talking about," Leshia complained angrily, finding it hard to keep her attitude in check.

"And I don't think you know who you're talking to!" Leshia glowered at the man sat across the cabin and fought the urge to make an exasperated grumble. Looking pained the girl turned her head slowly away from the teacher and leaned against the side of the cabin. She forced her eyes shut; even if she couldn't actually sleep she would pretend so that Snape would leave her alone.

'Thanks for this dad,' the girl thought bitterly, tears stinging at her closed eyelids.

XXX

Night had fallen when Leshia finally opened her eyes again. With a happy smile she realised they had reached Hogsmeade and it was the train's screeching to a halt that had woken her up. Pupils were gathering in the corridor and without a glance to the teacher Leshia rushed to join them. She soon found herself immersed in a hoard of second years, who greeted their idol enthusiastically and plagued her with questions about her summer. Only when the doors opened was she able to escape onto the platform where she sought out her friends.

"Leesh!" With a wide grin Leshia spun round to see Rachel and Katie bearing down on her.

"You survived!" Rachel crowed, wrapping an arm around Leshia's shoulders.

"Uh hmmm." The three girls spun around to see Snape standing in the doorway to the carriage glowering menacingly at them and soon scarpered down the platform towards the horseless carriages.

"Ugh it was terrible," Leshia exclaimed passionately once they'd made themselves comfortable in a carriage heading up the long lane towards the school gates. "Snape is such a pillock! Seriously! He had the nerve to bring up what's been going on at home, like it's any of_ his_ business."

"No," Rachel exclaimed in disbelief. "That's pushing a bit far isn't it? Maybe you should tell your dad."

"Oh come on Rach, he's probably the one who told him to bring it up," Leshia complained, before she let out an exasperated groan. "I am so happy to be back at school away from the lot of them. You cannot imagine!"

The cousins exchanged a worried look, but didn't challenge Leshia on the matter. She seemed happy and back to normal for now, but who was to say she would stay that way if they made her talk about what had happened in the summer and just now with Snape on the train.

"Rodeo walked right into our cabin door earlier, it was so funny," Katie suddenly gushed happily. Leshia laughed picturing the sight, but missed the significant look Rachel was trying to cast her.

"What a plonker, why'd he do that?" the blonde girl giggled.

"Well exactly that, he's a plonker," Katie chuckled. Suddenly Leshia frowned and glanced to Rachel with raised eyebrows. The last time Katie had spoken so fondly of their friend was when she was still going out with him. Rachel returned Leshia's look with a pointed one that screamed 'you don't know the half of it'. Indeed Leshia didn't, she hadn't seen the way Katie had doted on Rodeo on the journey up, it was almost as though she was totally head over heals with the boy again.

"Um Katie? Don't you like um, hate Rodes?" Leshia asked. She couldn't have sounded more untactful. Katie though didn't react badly to her words; instead she just giggled and shook her head.

"Don't be silly Leesh," the raven-haired girl countered sounding very silly herself. Leshia and Rachel exchanged a sidelong uncomfortable glance and proceeded to change the topic of conversation very quickly.

"No new Weasleys this year," Rachel sighed contentedly. Leshia laughed.

"Oh no," she wailed in feigned disappointment. "You lot aren't actually giving some _other_ kids a shot at Gryffindor for once are you?"

"For your information, we're branching out now. You know, expanding the empire and all that," Rachel replied snootily. "I mean look at my sister, she's in Slytherin. Ruddy harpie."

"Rachel!" Katie admonished while Leshia dissolved into raucous laughter. "You mustn't call her that, it's mean!"

"She's mean, that's why she's in Slytherin." Rachel did leave it though, her father's words weighing heavily on her mind. Her father had asked her to look after Hermia, no matter how much the girls couldn't see eye to eye, so that's what she was going to do.

By the time the girls reached Hogwarts they were all in gloriously good moods, despite the shaky start to the day. A fine feast was awaiting them inside and soon they'd be reunited with all their friends. As they ascended the stairs leading up to the entrance hall they were happily chatting about gossip they'd heard on the train when suddenly Leshia walked into something solid. When she realised who she'd bumped into she jumped back in disgust.

"Evening Malfoy," came the silky voice of Julius Black. The enigma he really ought to be called. This boy, of darker heritage than even Leshia, had been sorted into Slytherin, but never lowered himself to their petty bickering and jeering. He was aloof, solitary, brooding and yet Leshia had learned to hate him by the way he could infuriate her with a mere sentence. He was a tricky young man, whose allegiances seemingly lay with Leshia and her friends, but would never say so aloud. He had helped save Leshia's life from a murderous spirit set on her by his Slytherin peers before the summer and Leshia had avoided him ever since.

"Black," was all Leshia managed with a nod before she skirted round the tall boy and dragged her friends away to the great hall. "God won't he ever stop growing?" she grumbled to her friends. "He'll be ten feet when we graduate."

"Just because you're a midget," Rachel chuckled, earning herself a playful elbow to the ribs for her troubles.

"You should be nice to him Leesh, he did help us save your life," Katie admonished. Leshia rolled her eyes.

"So?"

"Well that sort of means you can't moan about him all the time. We still don't know why he did it. If only you could look past hating him and wonder why he did it then we might get somewhere." Leshia shrugged petulantly, looking like a told-off child.

"Why do we have to get anywhere anyway, it's not like he's going to do it again."

"Well you never know Leesh the trouble you get yourself into," Rachel sniggered. Leshia didn't get a chance to retort as by now they'd wandered into the grand hall, their eyes taking in the sheer majesty of the place, the sounds of their peers reuniting joyously meeting their ears.

As one the girls let out a contented sigh: they were home.

Gryffindor table was the most raucous and loud of the lot and as the girls passed down its length they were greeted enthusiastically by their housemates. Finally they reached a spot midway down the table where the boys had carved out a little space for the fourth years to sit down.

"What took you lot so long?" Parys piped up when the girls dropped down opposite them on the bench. "They're about to start sorting the first years."

"Well then it looks like we're right on time," Leshia countered cheerfully, before she glanced around herself at the occupants of the great hall. The familiarity of the faces was comforting to the girl, but when her eyes fell on the long table at the front of the hall her smile fell. Her father was looking more furious than ever she had seen him, the target of his glare a man similar in age with slicked back black hair, scarred yet ruggedly handsome features, a figure as tall and imposingly well built as his own and the scruffiest garb Leshia had ever seen on a teacher. She felt she recognised him, but could not pinpoint where she had seen him before, or why he and her father should be glaring at each other so.

"Who's that?" she asked her friends interestedly.

"Who?" Rachel piped up.

"That guy my dad's having a glaring match with." All heads now turned to the teachers' table.

"Yeah we were wondering that earlier," Rodeo replied. "He must be the new Runes teacher. I mean, who else would he be?" Leshia wrinkled her brow worriedly.

"I hope he isn't."

"Why?" Rachel now asked with a furrowed brow.

"Can't you see the way he's glaring at my dad? He's not exactly going to love me is he if he looks like wants to rip my dad's head off is he?" Leshia grumbled and she turned bitterly away from the top table. Her friends weren't given the chance to counter her though, as at this point the side door of the great hall was thrown open reveal Professor McGonagall leading a train of anxious looking first years into the hall.

"They are absolutely tiny," Parys whispered gleefully, emphasising every single word. "Look you could just step on one of them and no one would notice."

"You say that every year, it's just you getting bigger moron," Leshia teased him cheerfully.

"Well just because _some_ of us are growing there's no reason to take that tone," Parys countered snootily, a big grin plastered on his handsome face.

"Growing stupider by the minute more like." Parys wanted very much to get into a comical argument then and there, but by now McGonagall had led the young first years to the sorting stool, placed ritually in the centre of the platform. All eyes were on the hat as it rose to the occasion and produced a fantastically funny song that had everyone clapping raucously.

"That hat gets funnier every year," Rachel chuckled appreciatively over the din. For a moment Professor McGonagall waited for the noise to die down before she addressed the first years, explaining to them the procedure they had no doubt been terrorised over by their older siblings. Leshia leaned forward interestedly to catch a look at the youngsters. Only one caught her eye, a very small and very blonde boy, who seemed to have an angelic face. He already had a swathe of youngsters circled around him intrigued by the charisma his mischievous face exuded.

Al Sharif, Sayid was the first to take to the stool and was soon after sorted in Ravenclaw, who rose to their feet cheering for the first new pupil to be sorted into their house. It was a while before Cotton, Alfie became the first new Gryffindor and at this news having watched the other houses' celebrations, the Gryffindors went absolutely mad to best their neighbours. Little Alfie Cotton seemed overwhelmed and quite unwilling to join the raucous table. Again the Gryffindor stock ran dry until finally a lanky girl with a precocious face was called forward by the name,

"Gabriel, Sophie." Leshia's eyes snapped up the table to where Owen was watching his sister on the stool with bated breath. The hat took a long time to decide before it deigned the youngster Gryffindor material and she too was given a hero's welcome. Leshia had to smile when she saw Sophie glance up the table to her brother the moment she sat down, who offered the girl a thumb's up. She knew he only pretended to find his sisters annoying. He was a big softie under all that talk.

Leshia kept watching the little blonde boy, wondering who on earth he was until finally McGonagall read out a name that sent shivers down her spine,

"Savage, Samuel." For a moment none of the youngsters moved, until finally the very same little blonde boy Leshia had been watching stepped forward and took his seat.

"Anyone taking bets?" Leshia whispered to her friends, hiding her unease at seeing this boy finally come to Hogwarts. While the hat was deciding Leshia took the moment to glance up to the top table where Draco too was watching the boy intently.

"Come on hat, what's taking so long? I'm starving," Rachel grumbled under her breath.

"Slytherin!" To a roar from the far table Samuel Savage climbed to his feet and seemed to linger for a moment. Whatever he and the hat had been discussing was still very much unfinished, but McGonagall soon edged him along to the Slytherin table.

"Hey look at that, he didn't want to be in Slytherin," Rodeo remarked sounding surprised. "That's not their way is it?"

"If the hat put him in Slytherin then you can bet there's something rotten in him," Leshia spoke quietly, feeling very relieved that the boy was heading over to the far side of the room. For one horrid moment she had got the distinct impression he was going to wind up in Gryffindor.

"Leesh don't say stuff like that, you don't even know him," Katie admonished firmly. The last children were sorted quite quickly into their houses and finally the traditional lavish dinner materialised on the four tables.

"Finally!" Rachel and Parys cried in unison and they started piling their plates high. Leshia couldn't help but grin happily at being home with her closest friends. It was almost possible to pretend that behind her at the top table both her parents were sat as they always had been and that no baby by the name of Evie Malfoy had come into the world.

When every student had eaten more than they felt their bodies capable of the plates disappeared leaving a content silence to sweep over the hall. To this natural welcoming note the venerable old headmaster of Hogwarts Albus Dumbledore climbed to his feet. His eyes twinkled as he scanned faces, new and old, and rejoiced at seeing his pupils so happy and healthy.

"Welcome." His voice carried even to the edges of the great hall. "A very happy welcome back to old faces and welcome for the first time to all our new first years who so bravely faced the sorting hat earlier this evening. I trust you all enjoyed your summers, forgetting everything we have taught you and too much fun to recall, but now, alas, it is time for learning again."

"I have two messages for you, I suspect you shall get awfully excited at one of my announcements and will therefore address it last so as not to diminish your joy at the appointment of our new Ancient Runes teacher in the wake of Professor Granger's sad departure. Hogwarts, please give a warm welcome to Professor Silas Tripper."

Leshia's head popped up suddenly, her face contorted in a mixture of complete disbelief and total curiosity. Now it all made sense! _That_ was why she had caught her father exchanging as furious glaring match with the strange man, it was Silas Tripper!

"No way!" the girl finally managed to articulate her surprise.

"What's wrong?" Rodeo asked.

"That's Silas Tripper he's like, well he's like my dad's worst enemy. They hate each other!" Suddenly Leshia's face fell. "Oh fantastic, Silas Tripper will be teaching me! Bloody brilliant! I may as well fail Runes now and be done with it."

"Do you think that explains why your dad looks like he's about to explode?" Rachel asked grimly, drawing Leshia's attention to Draco who indeed, had gone so pale and angry looking that Leshia forgot her feelings towards her father momentarily and felt very worried for him.

"I'm not surprised he's mad," Leshia sighed gravely. "Tripper spends half his life trying to get my dad thrown into Azkaban. He very nearly succeeded once."

The polite applause that had briefly swamped the hall died down awaiting this more exciting news that Dumbledore had to share with them all. The last time he had deigned to grant them an exciting start-of-year announcement he had told them all about the exciting International Schools Quidditch Tournament that Hogwarts would be hosting. It had turned out to be a blazing success and the possibility of just such an event had most of the pupils waiting on tenterhooks.

"Dear pupils," Dumbledore called to the student body, a fond smile on his face. "In just two weeks time pupils from four schools from different corners of the globe will be descending on us." For a moment frantic whispering gripped the excitable youngsters and Dumbledore simply had to wait with a small smile until they quietened down. "Now I know what you must be thinking and unfortunately the answer is no, we are not hosting another quidditch tournament. However, it is in due part down to our raving success hosting the ISQT that the event I am about to explain to you has been brought into life. Or rather, perhaps more accurately, it is due to our show of sportsmanship and international cooperation that we have been invited to join in a tradition that has already proven to be successful for many years."

Several pupils were wrinkling their brows, finding themselves already confused by the headmaster's rambling explanation. Those who were still following him however, were hanging on his every word.

"Pupils, this year fifteen boys and fifteen years in fourth year or above will be taking part in a pupil exchange trip."

Noise broke out across the hall as those over fourth year happily started whispering to one another about how fantastic the proposition seemed, while those in third year and below grumbled about the unfairness of it all.

"Each of these thirty pupils will be paired up with a counterpart in one of the four schools joining us on this journey. After the Christmas holidays each of you will get the chance to travel to your counterpart's school for the term. We have been included as a late entrant in this year's exchange tradition and therefore we do not have the chance to send you away this term. Fortunately, your counterparts are all mobilised and will be arriving two weeks tomorrow."

"This leaves us very little time to sort ourselves out and see which thirty lucky pupils will be given this wonderful opportunity to experience another country's culture and customs. Tomorrow we will be affixing a list to the notice board and anyone who wishes to take part in the tournament must write their name on the list before midnight."

"Friday after dinner we shall all bare witness to a lottery in which the fifteen girls and boys are chosen. Anyone who demonstrates that they are incapable of following rules and acting as a suitable ambassador for the school will be removed from the runnings."

"Now then, without further ado, everybody rise please, we have a school song to perform."

Several affronted faces met the headmaster's request, before they all obliged with a tremendous scraping sound rising up from the benches scratching across the slate floor.

"Why's he not telling us any more?" Leshia whispered to her friends.

"Well it's Dumbledore isn't it?" Rachel countered. "He's going to tell us just enough to get us interested then hold out on us till we all go bonkers."

"Some of us are already bonkers," the blonde girl sniggered. Rachel's feigned aghast cry was lost though, on a sudden roar of mismatched melodies. The school song had started and every pupil in the room was singing to their own personal tune. Leshia and Rachel chose to belt out a very speedy version to the tune of Jingle Bells. Finally once the last pupils had brought their songs to a close the headmaster smiled over his school and nodded his head towards the doors.

"Goodnight pupils."

Before Leshia got caught up in the general throng heading towards the great doors into the entrance hall the girl glanced up at the top table where Draco was watching her, his expression unreadable. He looked like he had something grave on his mind and for a moment Leshia felt incredibly grave. She didn't like seeing her father so troubled.

XXX

Draco paced the floor of the headmaster's study; every inch of him screamed agitation. Even his fingers were twitching in annoyance. As soon as Dumbledore had given the pupils leave to go Draco had been at his side asking in a voice barely more audible than a whisper for a private audience. He had not trusted himself to speak any louder; he was having far too difficult a time controlling his emotions. Dumbledore had sighed and nodded; he owed Draco an explanation. They had not spoken on the walk to the headmaster's study and now they had reached it and Dumbledore had taken his seat Draco Malfoy seemed no closer to voicing his concerns.

"I can't believe it Albus," the prowling man finally stated, his voice cold and dangerous, his face as dark as a thundercloud. Albus had to give him the utmost respect, though he would never fear the young man stood before him, he could see why Draco had become one of the most successful Aurors the ministry had ever seen. There was something so terrifying about his piercing pale eyes and his intimidating statuesque figure. He looked like he could break a person in two.

"No," Draco was continuing calmly. "I _will_ not believe it. Him? You hired _that _man? Of all the possible witches and wizards in the world, you had to choose Silas Tripper."

Dumbledore sighed heavily and shook his head.

"I understand your grievance…"

"Do you Albus? Do you really?" Draco was slipping, his emotions creeping into his voice. "You know the history between us."

"Yes I do," the elderly wizard spoke softly, holding Draco's frightening gaze.

"Well then I can't understand why you've done this," the young man cried out, fully losing his temper now. "That man will not rest until he sees me hanged in Azkaban. He's been trying to get me thrown in there ever since I joined the Order. You know he nearly succeeded don't you? Five weeks I was on trial. Five weeks they kept me in that place. I'm not going back. I won't have him here; I won't have him teaching my child. He'll start on her next, just you wait and if he does, I'll kill him!"

Dumbledore's brow creased in concern, Draco didn't seem to be bluffing. As the enraged man seemed to have finished his tirade, Dumbledore dared to speak,

"The appointment of Silas Tripper as the new Ancient Runes Professor was not one I had any control over." Draco frowned heavily.

"What?" As though the wind had suddenly been blown from his sails Draco's shoulders drooped, his face contorted in confusion.

"The Ministry forced me to instate him Draco." For a moment Draco stared at Dumbledore in immense confusion, but before long his anger was back, tenfold what it had been before.

"_Crayik_ sent him here?" he demanded. Slowly Dumbledore nodded. "That bloody backstabbing ungrateful…"

"Draco," Dumbledore soothed. "You must not take it personally. He has been sent here to spy on all of us."

"Bollocks, he's been sent here to keep track of me and me alone. Why else would Crayik have picked Tripper? After everything I've done for him, after all the sacrifices. I gave up my own daughter's childhood so I could do his every bidding whenever he needed me to and this is the thanks I get? Sending in a persistent little dog that won't let up until he sees me thrown in prison. Wonderful." With this last statement Draco dropped down into the chair by the desk, slouched down a pitiful look on his face. He felt so very betrayed.

"I'm sorry Draco," Dumbledore offered gravely. "I will do my best to keep Silas in line."

But his words were lost on the desolate young man slouched in the chair opposite him. Draco had been betrayed by what was once his greatest ally. Minister Crayik had always stood by him, even when accusations had been flying around about Draco's allegiances well into Leshia's childhood. Now though it seemed the paranoid ageing wizard had changed his mind on his once favourite Auror.

XXX

Gryffindor tower was awash with noise and excitement. The first years were being indoctrinated into the house in the usual flair of the Lion's house. An initiation of sorts had degraded the common room into reams of laughter and already the new Gryffindors were convinced they had been sorted into the absolute best and most fun house in the whole school. Leshia had remained on the sidelines watching as the older pupils took charge and she had enjoyed it much more this way. The last time they had organised an initiation the girl had found herself in detention for a week with Snape, so this was a far better alternative.

A terrible lump was growing in Leshia's throat and the longer she remained squeezed into their usual window box with Katie and Rachel, the larger it grew. She didn't want it to form; she knew what that lump meant. It meant she wanted to cry and though she fought it, Leshia knew it was because of the fact that ever since she had lost sight of Draco at dinner she had become painfully aware of the fact that he and Hermione were not down in their once family chambers, they were hundreds of miles away. She was going to cry, she just knew it.

All in all Leshia was very grateful when everyone turned in for the night, but try as she might sleep wouldn't come. Her mind would not let her rest. As an indication of how wretched she was feeling, Leshia even felt distressed about the fact that Tally, the family houself, could no longer be found beavering away with the rest of the castle elves. All ties had been cut. She was alone.

With sudden clarity Leshia sat straight up in bed. Her clock was reading midnight, but there was something she had to do. She had to see it. She had to see her parents' empty family chambers. She had to see it with her own eyes, to see that they really had gone, that her life really had irrevocably changed.

Silently she slid off the bed into her school shoes and crept out the room. The common room was still lit by the dwindling embers in the hearth and helped light the way to the portrait of the Fat Lady. Remarkably, no one hindered Leshia's journey down the many corridors and staircases she needed to cross to get to the portrait of the bride and groom that concealed the entrance to her parents' old chambers. After tickling the groom's foot the portrait swung open revealing the grand old door. Leshia pushed against it, but it didn't budge.

"No," she whispered, leaning her had against the wood miserably. Tears stung at her eyes. "Please open."

Suddenly the door gave way and the girl stumbled inside the chambers. A fire sprung into life in the hearth lighting up the dustsheet-covered furniture. Everything that had made the place her parents' home had been removed and only the bare minimum had remained.

The most notable absences though were the fact that Draco was not sat on the sofa, a pupil's essay in one hand, a glass of whiskey in the other, with Hermione curled up at his side, some immense tome open on her lap sipping at a glass of wine.

A small sob escaped Leshia as she approached the white covered sofa and sat down right in the middle, feeling very small and very alone. When she shut her eyes she could still picture the place as it had been, as it ought to be now and if she tried really hard she could almost feel Hermione and Draco's presence sat either side of her, smiling at their daughter. For just the slightest moment Leshia smiled. For just one slight moment she wasn't alone.

The fire crackled and jolted Leshia from her daydream. The moment was gone. And when she opened her eyes she saw as much. Tears streamed down her face and pathetically she lifted her knees to her chest, hugging them tightly, burying her face in them. In between her sobs Leshia hiccupped the words she had been feeling so poignantly all summer,

"I. Miss. You."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

End of Part I

Please review, I don't do this for my health you know :)


	2. Part Two

**Generations: Rebel Inside**

**Part II**

Seven-thirty the next morning and Leshia had made it back to her bed only to be plagued by nightmares for the rest of the night. Though she would never admit it, she was very relieved to be rudely roused from her sleep by Rachel's alarm clock-like tendencies.

"Wake up!" the redhead cried out at the top of her lungs the moment she pulled back Leshia's bed curtains. With a start the blonde girl sat up straight in bed, looking around in a bewildered fashion. When she saw that it was not the shadowy figure from her nightmares stood in the morning light, but her oldest friend a grin cracked onto her face.

"You've missed doing that haven't you?" she croaked. Rachel offered her a massive grin of affirmation, before she skipped off to pick on her next unfortunate victim: Ashley. Across the dormitory Katie was already getting her shower things together.

"Morning Leesh," she grumbled. Leshia smiled and nodded to her, feeling so wondrously happy at this return to normalcy. Katie was not a morning person and Rachel was a nightmare to share a room with, but at least they were behaving in character.

As Ashley's cries of outrage filled the dorm Leshia laughed and quickly grabbed her wash bag and things to rush down with Katie.

"She's unbelievable that cousin of mine," Katie grumbled as the two girls descended the winding stairs into the empty common room. Luckily for the girls, none of their peers had quite the same early morning wake up call as they did and they always managed to avoid the shower queue. Leshia remarked as much to Katie, who didn't think this made up for Rachel's behaviour.

Forty minutes later and the girls were all dressed in their uniforms and robes and heading down to breakfast with a trickle of other early risers. On their way through the entrance hall they passed a few girls in fifth year signing up their names on a long sheet of parchment pinned up on the notice board. Quickly the three friends rushed to put their names on the list, which no doubt registered people's interest in taking part in the Exchange Trip. Once all three girls had neatly printed their names they continued on their journey to the delicious smelling breakfast that awaited them in the hall.

As usual the Great Hall was relatively empty at this time allowing the Gryffindor fourth years their choice of seating arrangements at the Gryffindor table. Leshia found herself sat between her two dear friends, but where they were piling their plates high with all manner of tasty breakfast things she couldn't help but state up at the top table at the two vacant chairs her parents had once occupied.

"You okay Leesh?" Katie's hand flew past the blonde girl's eyes causing her to jerk back into the present.

"Oh yeah, sorry, just drifted off there for a second."

"I hope we end up starting with PE," Rachel yawned. Leshia grinned and shook her head.

"They only ever put PE at the end of the day. No year starts the day with PE. Anyway, who'd want to go out first thing in the morning in the middle of winter."

"What do you mean go out? Don't you know in fourth year most of the first term is spent learning ballroom dancing?" Katie now put in with one raised eyebrow and a dreamy look in her eyes. Leshia felt a stab of alarm.

"Um. No. Are you serious?"

"I've been waiting ages for this term," Katie gushed happily.

"Tell me it's just with the girls."

"Of course not." Katie looked aghast at such a statement. "You do know we're old enough to attend the Halloween ball this year don't you? We'll need to learn how to dance properly."

Leshia and Rachel exchanged a smirk.

"I'm not going to the ball," Leshia finally announced to which Rachel nodded in agreement. Now it was Katie's turn to look alarmed.

"What do you mean not going? Why not?" Leshia shrugged her shoulders.

"We can't let the school down now can we? I mean we've got to pull off our traditional Halloween bash don't we?" Rachel had to hide her laughter in her hand as Katie's eyes grew impossibly wide.

"Are you telling me that you actually enjoyed all the trouble we've got ourselves into with throwing parties to the point that now you'll refuse to attend a legitimate one so you can get in some _more_ trouble?"

"Katie," Leshia laughed. "You go to the ball if you want. All I'm saying is I kinda like throwing parties and well, I've been thinking about it this summer. I was thinking we could hold it in…"

"Morning ladies!" Leshia's sentence was cut short by the arrival of the boys, who dropped down opposite the girls looking ruffled, as though they had gone to bed in their uniforms.

"You guys had better hope we don't get Defence Against the Dark Arts first thing," Rachel sniggered when she saw them.

"I'll have you know we're sporting the very latest of fashions," Rodeo replied dashingly. "Bed hair complete with…"

"Bed clothes?" Leshia put in with a lopsided grin. At her side Katie was still trying to get her head round the fact that they would not be attending the ball she had been fantasising about all summer. And to think she had even bought a dress for the occasion.

"Dribble marks?" Rachel now added causing Leshia to crack up while the boys turned to each other to surreptitiously check the legitimacy behind the redhead's claim.

"Oh you only wish you had our style Weasley," Parys finally concluded, the smile on his face a genuine one.

"Sure sure." Before the youngsters could find themselves degraded into a comical battle of insults a great fluttering of wings announced the arrival of the morning post. Leshia didn't look up. She had long since learnt not to expect anything.

Imagine the girl's surprise when a large parcel dropped down into her lap carried by a tawny owl, who swooped down onto the table, evidently exhausted.

"Isn't that your family's owl?" Rachel asked curiously while Leshia ran her fingers over the brown paper surrounding the package.

"Yeah," she uttered, glancing up briefly at Auralia. "Thanks for bringing this, whatever it is." Her offering was somewhat heartfelt and after a haughty hoot the bird took off into the sky to find some rest in the owlery before heading home.

"What do you think it is?" Katie next asked. Leshia shrugged her shoulders and reached out to sip at her pumpkin juice, feigning nonchalance.

"Oh Leshia just open the damn thing," Rachel laughed. With a small smile at her friend Leshia conceded and ripped the thin paper from the package. Chocolate frogs spilled onto her lap revealing a note from her mother and the large book her employers had granted her for her summer's service.

"I must have forgotten it," Leshia whispered to herself, before she reached down and lifted up the note.

_Hello my darling  
I didn't think you meant to forget this book. I'm very surprised Regus and Tarquin gave it to you. I hope you're enjoying being back at school, but I want you to know how missed you are back home. Please be good.  
I love you so very much.  
Love mum xxx  
PS Evie smiled for the first time today. I know you're probably not interested to hear this, but…well she has your smile  
_

Leshia sighed and ran her fingers briefly over her mother's writing.

"What's that?" Rachel asked through a mouthful of chocolate frog, her eyes indicating the large book in Leshia's lap.

"Oh it's what Flourish and Blott gave me as a thank you present. Now sure what it's about. Everyone's making a big deal about it." With a shrug Leshia shoved the book into her satchel, feeling resentful that it was now much heavier than when she sat down. The chocolate frogs she deposited in front of Rachel with a smirk, before she carefully tucked her mother's note in the side pocket of her satchel and continued with her breakfast, far more subdued than before.

"Look McGonagall's giving out our timetables," Parys suddenly exclaimed sounding hopeful for a friendly lesson arrangement. "Bring on Care of Magical Creatures first thing."

"I thought you guys hated Care of Magical Creatures?" Rachel asked fondly.

"Well yeah, when Hagrid's got some new and fantastic lethal pet to show us, but you've got to weigh up your pros and cons young Rachel," Parys instructed. "What's worse, a toe-chewing furry nuisance or Snape on a bender?" Everyone laughed at the boy's sensible reasoning until McGonagall reached them and doled out the fourth year timetables.

"Good morning fourth years," she greeted them with a twinkle to her strict smile. The youngsters grinned at her, before they all turned to their timetables.

"Oh no," came the communal groan as their faces all fell as one.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts first thing? That's harsh," Rodeo grumbled.

"Followed by Potions!" Parys chimed in.

"And history of magic after break?" Rachel now cried out.

"And to top it all off we've got Runes after that," Leshia added quietly. "In which Tripper's probably going to box me up and ship me off to Azkaban." Their timetable had turned out so terribly that the Gryffindors couldn't even offer a smile at Leshia's grim joke.

"Check out Friday, Potions before lunch then triple Defence Against the Dark Arts afterwards," Parys now pointed out.

"They're having a laugh," Leshia groaned. "This is the worst timetable we've ever had. I bet they loved making this up."

"I bet they were _drunk_ when they made this up," Rachel grumbled at her side.

The rest of breakfast was entirely tainted by the grim realisation that every Monday was going to be a horrific experience for the fourth year Gryffindors and when they finally climbed to their feet to head off to their first lesson of the day they did so mostly in a moody silence.

They were not the first to find the Defence Against the Dark Arts corridor; the Slytherins had already made their way down and were gathered in little cliques, raucously continuing their summer discussions. Leshia sighed grimly when they rounded the corner to find who they had been teamed up with for their Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons.

"Aren't we ever going to be with anyone else for Defence Against the Dark Arts? I mean seriously, this is getting ridiculous. Fourth year running now!" she uttered to her friends, before they continued up the corridor and fell into line. As she passed the Slytherins she hadn't missed over the summer Leshia met each of the scowling eyes until finally she came across the pointed face of Damian Allseyer. Here she paused and simply stared at the boy. He could hardly meet her eye. The last time they had parted Damian Allseyer had tried, unsuccessfully and for the second time, to kill Leshia. They had not met since and Leshia was amused over the summer holidays to find the boy had steered clear of Diagon Alley due to her mere presence.

"Hi Damian," the girl spoke in a sickly sweet voice.

"Go away Blood Traitor," the boy countered, sounding annoyed and putout. This only elicited a smile from the girl. It was a cruel smile that soon turned into a sneer.

"Make me."

"If you think…" Allseyer began furiously, leaning in, his fists clenched at his side, but his tirade never came as from down the corridor fast footfalls preceded the arrival of the dangerously dichotic teacher that was Draco Malfoy. His face was an expression of suspicion while before him the youngsters of his fourth year class jumped into line checking their shirts were tucked in.

Draco's eyes lingered longer than usual when he reached his daughter, but before long he had deigned the class respectable and reached out to open the door.

"In," he merely commanded and stepped back to allow the teenagers to pass him one by one. Leshia was one of the last to pass before her father's piercing gaze, but once she was inside she darted to her usual bench, which had, over the course of her three years in Hogwarts been covered in a graffiti chronicling her trials and tribulations. With a smile Leshia let her fingers rub over the delicate 'OG+AM' she had inscribed on the corner of the desk in the popular Everlast Ink even Filch had never figured out how to remove from Hogwarts' desks. The sturdy desk was a tribute to her fondest and worst memories and it was a pleasure to be sat behind it once more.

Draco Malfoy waited for the last of the stragglers to wander inside and find their seats before he shut the door. He would rather have started the week with one of the younger classes, those pupils who had not yet grown accustomed to his ways and still feared him enough to follow all his rules, but at least these fourth years, slouched in their chairs and leaning on their desks tiredly, were a better alternative to the seventh years who would no doubt take several punishments before they learnt the rules once more. None looked more at ease than his own daughter, who was leaning her cheek on her hand smiling across the room with a cruel sneer at Damian Allseyer. Inwardly Draco groaned; wonderful, she had reignited their vendetta at the earliest possible convenience, how very mature of her.

"I trust you all enjoyed your summer holidays," Draco spoke loudly, trying to draw all eyes onto himself. For the most part they complied, but Leshia and her nemesis would not remove their jeering gazes from one another. "And I trust you're all aware that you are _no longer_ on holiday." Speaking loudly so as to attract the attention of those who were not watching his every move, Draco was irritated to see his warning fell on deaf ears where Leshia was concerned.

"Miss Malfoy," he spoke sharply and finally he found all eyes on him. "I am standing over here, not behind Mr Allseyer. Pay attention." Leshia fought to keep her expression neutral, before she simply nodded to show she had heeded him. "Thank you. I have a challenge for you fourth years."

The youngsters seemed intrigued and even Leshia forgot to act indifferently to her father's teachings and sat up interestedly.

"This year's syllabus, you will be pleased to hear, is going to be very different from last year's in depth investigation of dark magical creatures. We are going to start using our wands again and for the first time in your Defence Against the Dark Arts careers you will be tackling defensive magic." The class were hanging on his every word. "Counter-curses."

Such was their discipline and knowledge of Professor Malfoy's impressively alternating moods that the teenagers easily contained the whoops of joy they wanted to express at their teacher's proclamation.

"Today I am going to see whether any of you remember anything we covered in second year, namely, the Seven Fundamental Curses otherwise known as the Corripio Curses. If you will remember we did briefly touch on this year's topic when you yourselves were instructed on how to formulate a counter-curse for a simple hex?" There were several nods around the room. "Well I am delighted to say that was a very easy counter-curse and it is all going to get impossibly more difficult this year."

Draco paced the front of the classroom, rotating his wand in his hand as he walked, maintaining eye contact with each pupil in turn as he spoke. He particularly enjoyed the pained looks that materialised on their faces at his announcement that they were in for a difficult year.

"Everyone, on your feet," he ordered suddenly. Such was his sway over these teenagers that instantly they obeyed.

"Blimey!" Rachel exclaimed in surprise when her desk lurched to the side of the room seemingly with a mind of its own, eliciting a hail of laughter from the class. By the time they had fallen quiet every desk in the room had hopped off to the side leaving a large empty space. Up at the front of the classroom Draco pointed his wand at the centre of the room where a large squishy mattress materialised as though from thin air.

"Who can tell me one of the Seven Fundamental Curses?" Only a few hands shot into the air. Unsurprisingly Katie's was amongst them. Draco seemed subtly disappointed and as his eyes roved over those who had not indicated they remembered his teachings the pupils shrunk away from his gaze; all except Leshia, who kept her father's gaze.

"Miss Malfoy?"

"The Balancing Curse," she replied with ease, effortlessly reaching into her firm memories of their second year course for the answers she needed. Draco smiled and nodded.

"Step forward." Not quite so sure anymore, Leshia frowned.

"Why?"

"Please step forward."

"No," the girl exclaimed. For a moment Draco matched her gaze, his face growing colder by the second.

"Do you not trust me Miss Malfoy?" Every head in the room swivelled towards Leshia.

"Well not if you're going to curse me then no. You said we weren't allowed to practice those curses in second year."

"And are you still in second year?" Leshia twitched a little at this dig at her pride. Slowly she shook her head.

"No sir," she replied darkly.

"Then step forward onto the mat," Draco ordered again, sounding firm and yet ever so slightly amused. "Please." Leshia glanced briefly across the circle to where Damian Allseyer was struggling so hard to keep his laughter at bay he was nearly wetting himself; that would not do! With a grimace the blonde girl obeyed and stepped unsurely into the centre of the mat.

"_Corripio pondera_," her father suddenly spoke softly, flicking his wand in his daughter's direction.

It was as though half of her head had suddenly turned into stone Leshia remember thinking as she stumbled onto her side. The world was spinning so violently she was sure she was going to be sick. Several youngsters in the class laughed as their friend (and enemy) stumbled close to the ground, struggling to stay on her feet, her eyes never leaving her father's.

"Funny is it?" Draco spoke loudly and coldly to the class. "To have one of your most precious weapons stolen from you?"

The class fell silent and watched as Leshia landed painfully on her shoulder. Draco's brow twitched for a moment in concern. Slowly he stepped onto the mat and approached his daughter, who tried for a moment to scramble away, only to fall onto her side once more.

"This curse steals your opponent's balance rendering them physically unable to fight you. If left like this Miss Malfoy would eventually perish. She certainly wouldn't be able to look after herself in such a condition. _Reddo pondera_."

Her balance restored Leshia suddenly found her feet. She was panting, staring hard at her father, embarrassed by his making an example of her. Draco held her gaze for a moment, before he nodded to her indicating she return to her peers.

"Who's next?" With a big smile the teacher turned to look at the class who all stepped backwards in unison not daring to give the answers they had been thinking only moments ago. "No one?"

Bravely Katie's hand lifted into the air. She had quickly weighed up the pros and cons of the situation and had picked one of the remaining Fundamental Curses that she would not mind demonstrating to the class.

"Ah, Miss Potter? A housepoint for your bravery. Which curse do you have in mind?"

"The Speaking Curse sir," the girl whispered.

"_Corripio sonitus,_" Draco called out suddenly. Katie reached to her throat in surprise. "And what does the Speaking Curse do Miss Potter?" The raven-haired girl shook her head. She already knew what it did and didn't want to have to demonstrate. "Please Miss Potter, I know you understand, but perhaps they don't." Draco seemed gentle and encouraging and so after nodding Katie opened her mouth to speak, but no sound escaped. "Another powerful weapon," the teacher spoke to the class. "To steal another's power to make a sound is a cruel tool indeed. _Reddo sonitus._"

Katie released her neck and whispered to herself to ensure the counter-curse had worked. Draco saw and smiled at the girl.

"The counter-curse is effective Miss Potter I can assure you," he chuckled. "Right, next?" Now several hands flew into the air as the rest of the class realised they didn't want to get lumbered with the more daunting of the Seven Fundamentals.

Julius Black demonstrated The Hearing Curse, allowing Draco to steal his power to hear with his now predictable command, _Corripio audio_. Parys demonstrated _Corripio tactus_, the Feeling Curse and experienced the uncomfortable sensation of losing the tactile senses in his body. He could see his limbs and move them around, but the boy had lost all feeling in them. Archie Dregon humorously demonstrated the Seeing Curse by stumbling around blindly after Draco had stolen his sight from him with _Corripio specto_. Tatiana Zambini became the test subject for _Corripia sententia _the Thinking Curse and comically became catatonic, completely oblivious to the world around her. Draco admonished the class for laughing at the girl and described to them how frightening it was awakening from a long period of being held without your thoughts. His description of the famous Gassleby sisters who were held under the Thinking Curse for twenty years only to awake to find themselves old women had several of the youngsters grimacing.

After the Slytherin girl had been restored with her mind Draco turned on the class with an expectant smile.

"So then, who will give me the Seventh Fundamental Curse?" The youngsters looked to one another shiftily, trying to avoid the teacher's gaze. Leshia grinned and glanced briefly to Katie who was stood on the other side of Rachel. With her sneaky grin she conferred to her friend what she had in mind, and after a moment's serious pause Katie grinned back and nodded. Before Rachel knew what was going on her friends had shouldered her forward a step and stumbling, she held out her hands.

"Ah, Miss Weasley?" Draco called to the girl, having to hide the grin he felt at seeing what had happened.

"The Movement Curse sir," Rachel grimly responded, pausing briefly to glance over her shoulder and glare at her friends.

"Well done Miss Weasley, nicely volunteered. Won't you make your way onto the mat?" Rachel grumbled under her breath as she traipsed onto the mat. "_Corripio ingressus._"

Quite suddenly Rachel's body froze and she toppled over onto the mat, still in the same position she had been frozen in. The class stared wide-eyed at the redhead.

"You will note the differences between the Movement Curse and other freeze-type curses and hexes such as a the body bind curse in that the body freezes at the point the victim is cursed. Many years ago the Dark Wizard Grindelwald is famed to have taken pride in owning a hall of muggle statues, frozen in undignified poses. He claimed it was art."

"That's horrible sir!" Katie uttered in shock. Draco met the girl's eyes and nodded slowly.

"These curses are horrible Miss Potter. _Redda ingressus_." Quite suddenly Rachel scrambled from the floor and darted back into line, the colour rising in her cheeks. "They are powerful weapons and I hope now you understand why so much of our time in second year is dedicated to learning about them. The countercurses follow the same pattern the curses themselves do and over the following weeks you will come to intimately know the magical workings behind the spells."

Draco turned his back on the class triggering a stampeded as he swished his wand in the direction of the desks and chairs, which hopped back into their places startling the class into jumping out of the way.

"If _any_ of you use these curses outside of this classroom," the dichotic teacher suddenly spoke loudly, spinning round on heal and staring firmly into each face. He lingered a little longer once more on his daughter's. "You will face possible expulsion. They are not Unforgivable and therefore not illegal, but they are dangerous and recognised as such by the Ministry of Magic. You have all been warned."

The rest of the lesson was far duller than the start as the youngsters scrambled to take notes of Draco's lecturing them on the origins of the spells. By the time the bell rang signifying it was time to pack up and head off to Potions they had quite forgotten the impact the Curses had had on them and were all happy to be free of the classroom. One unfortunate pupil however, was going to have to wait.

"Miss Malfoy, remain behind," Draco called out over the bell as it rang out. Leshia's jaw dropped in defiance while her classmates jumped to their feet to a chorus of scraping chair legs across the slate floor. Once the last of the fourth years had filed out and shut the door Draco pushed himself off from his desk and approached his daughter, who had slouched down low in her chair, her gaze drifting off to the window.

"I hope we're not going to have a problem this year you and I," Draco spoke coldly. He did not seem impressed. Leshia snapped her eyes onto him.

"What?"

"Exactly that, your tone young lady; have I ever allowed any of my pupils to speak to me the way you did today?" Leshia chewed the inside of her cheeks grumpily.

"No."

"And I should allow you the privilege because you're my daughter and you're upset with me, is that it?"

"No!"

"Well then the next time you walk through that door I expect you to leave your emotional baggage out in the corridor is that understood?" Her father seemed dichotic as usual, partly amused and partly brusque, all Leshia could do was nod.

"Fine," she stated simply. "Sir." Draco's expression softened and he nodded.

"Go on then, don't keep Professor Snape waiting."

Leshia didn't need telling twice and after slinging her satchel over her shoulder she ran from the room, surprising the gathered sixth years out in the corridor as she went. The estranged father watched her go with a small smile on his face; even winding her up had been a fun distraction from her otherwise indifferent treatment of him. Though he missed his wife and baby daughter something chronic, it was worth it just to spend these precious hours with his wayward child.

XXX

Potions wasn't even nearly as horrendous as the girls had feared. For starters the fact that for the first time in their Hogwarts careers they were sharing their Potions lessons with a class other than the Slytherins had boosted them all to gloriously good moods and secondly Snape seemed to be quite tame after the combined Gryffindor and Ravenclaw class handed in a promising compliment of summer essays.

Somehow even Professor Snape seemed more manageable without the Slytherins in the room to be compared less favourably to and when Leshia and her friends filed out for break they were able to do so free of any detentions or telling offs. Time would tell how long this would last.

"You know what old Snape isn't all that bad when he's not kissing Slytherin arse," Rachel remarked cheerfully as the girls made their way out into the grounds to enjoy the summer sunshine. Leshia laughed happily at the mental imagery Rachel's words had produced while at her side Katie grimaced with the same picture in her mind.

"Lovely," the raven-haired girl stated in monotone. "Ugh! Get out my head!" The girl thumped at her scull playfully. "All I can picture now is Snape in some pretty compromising situations."

Rachel and Leshia roared with laugher as the three girls dropped down on a grassy bank to bask under the late summer sun.

"Oh come on, you know you fancy him Katie. How could you not?" Leshia teased with a beaming smile. "Personally I think he's a stud muffin!"

"Who's a stud muffin?" Momentarily the girls were startled into screaming childishly as two shapes flew overhead. Parys and Rodeo had easily vaulted over their friends and landed down the slope, but the girls took a moment to laugh away their theatrics.

"Professor Snape," Leshia told them happily. The two mates exchanged a look of concern.

"Right," Parys finally spoke slowly.

"Yeah we all fancy him now," Rachel added.

"You're kidding right?" Rodeo demanded.

"No. He's hot don't you know?" Leshia couldn't keep the mirth out of her voice this time and for a moment she and Rachel rolled around hugging their sides in stitches of laughter. Katie tried not to snigger at their dramatic display and surreptitiously glanced up to find Rodeo watching her blonde friend with an adoring look on his face. For a moment it was as though an icy pool had started to well up in the pit of her stomach.

"Guys," she loudly admonished her friends. "Get it together, the moment's over." Struggling for air and gulping away the odd giggle Leshia and Rachel sat up on the grass looking to their friend with matching putout expressions. Rodeo and Parys joined them on the ground closing the girls' semicircle in a full ring.

"Spoil sport," Rachel sniggered. "Now then, who's up for trying out that Thinking Curse on the Slytherins next chance we get?"

"Rach you're forgetting that those Slytherins have about three brain cells between them," Leshia countered amusedly. "I'm thinking that thinking curse wouldn't make much of a difference."

"Well the balancing one was pretty funny, you looked like my Great Uncle Tanker after he's had one too many at the pub," Parys put in with a grin.

"Probably not half as stupid as you waving your arms about going, 'Are my arms still attached? I can't bloody feel them!'"

"I don't think you guys should joke about those curses, don't you remember second year?" Katie spoke up sternly earning herself four doleful expressions from her friends, who felt her to be spoiling their fun. "It's true! We didn't think they were funny when we learnt about all the chaos they've caused. I don't think it was very responsible of your dad to try them out on us." All eyes now fell on Leshia who merely shrugged her shoulders.

"Nothing to do with me. He's a big boy now, he can decide his own lesson plans don't you think?" Katie seemed a little hurt at the girl's flippancy. "Well anyway," Leshia quickly continued. "You guys had it easy, my curse was definitely the worst. I was sure I was going to chuck up my breakfast. I've never felt so sick in my life."

"Ugh," was the general consensus in response to Leshia's revelation.

"I'll tell you what though, this year Defence Against the Dark Arts is gonna be pretty wicked if we get to try out curses on each other," Rodeo announced happily.

"Yeah, or it's going to suck because we'll be the ones getting cursed every lesson," Rachel countered cheerfully.

"As long as I get Allseyer with the bursting bogies curse then I'm set."

The Gryffindors' laughter carried across the sunny grounds and seemed to linger there well into the afternoon. True joy and friendship has such a lovely way of adding to the splendour of a sunny afternoon.

XXX

History of magic provided the Gryffindors and their counterparts the Slytherins with ample opportunity for a midday nap after which they went their separate ways. Leshia, Rachel and Katie started making their way grimly towards Tripper's classroom for their Runes lesson while the boys happily made their way out to the grounds to enjoy some more of the sunny afternoon down by Hagrid's hut.

"Ruddy lucky blighters," Rachel grumbled as the grinning lads disappeared from sight. "_They_ don't have to sit in a stuffy classroom staring at stones for the next hour."

"I wonder where Black's going," Leshia suddenly remarked. Though her tone was suspicious and accusing, there was no denying the curiosity in her face as she watched the tall Slytherin enigma darting down the corridor in the wrong direction to their Runes classroom. Katie and Rachel turned to watch him just as he disappeared round a corner.

"Maybe he really needed a wee," the redhead suggested chirpily. Leshia grinned and shoulder barged her friend into a passing hoard of startled looking first years. "Oy, it was a decent suggestion!" the girl cried out gleefully and after manhandling the younger pupils she pulled herself free to join Leshia's side once more.

"Stop worrying so much about Julius Black Leesh," Katie warned wisely. "So what if he's going the wrong way. You never know, maybe he dropped Runes and is doing something else this year."

"Yeah!" Rachel suddenly exclaimed in such a manner it suggested she had suddenly worked out a very significant clue. "Maybe he fancied your mum all along and was only taking her class because of her. That would explain why he's been helping you too…"

Once more Rachel found herself being carted off in the wrong direction after Leshia, amidst a gale of laughter, elbowed her friend into a passing throng of seventh years. These giants were less simple to escape and by the time Rachel had caught up with the other two they were lining up outside Silas Tripper's classroom. Leshia was wearing a mischievous smile.

"Just because you can't face up to the fact that before long you'll be calling Julius Black stepdaddy doesn't mean you have to throw me to the mercy of the upper years," the flame-haired girl remarked snootily as she took up her place on Katie's other side. Leshia wanted to burst into another ream of laughter, but somehow she just couldn't muster the positive energy. Being so close to her mother's old haunt and knowing just who was going to be taking her place was draining her of any joy she had been relishing moments before.

"Hey look, here comes Daisy Double Crosser," Rachel whispered to her friends as Daisy Cartwright, the Ravenclaw girl who had broken her best friend Harriet Coldcauldron's heart came darting along the corridor towards them to get in line before Professor Tripper could arrive.

"Rachel," Katie admonished fondly. "Calm down. You'll get in trouble and jeopardise your chance on the exchange trip if you keep getting yourself all worked up." Rachel and Leshia exchanged a smirk.

"Yes mum," the redhead finally grumbled fondly. "Anyway, what would it matter if _I_ was going? That wouldn't help you."

"Well you'd be out of our hair for a while," Leshia suggested happily.

"If by chance two of us get picked, I bet they'd place us in pairs," Katie spoke over the blonde girl.

"Knowing my luck I'd end up paired with Allseyer or Julius Black," Leshia put in with a lopsided grin.

"Either way, you two have to behave and stay in the running. One toe out of line and that would be it."

"What about a finger?" Rachel asked curiously. At her side Leshia's grin was growing.

"Excuse me?"

"Well what if I put a finger out of line?"

"Yeah, or an ear!" the blonde girl put in enthusiastically. Katie stared at her friends bemusedly. They were in fits of laughter, but eventually managed to calm themselves down.

"Are you two quite finished?"

"Somewhat," Rachel replied through a mouth sore from smiling so much. Leshia snorted at her side, but refrained from breaking into giggles once more. Quickly she nodded at Katie.

"Yeah me too."

"You shouldn't need reminding Leshia that you ought to watch your step in this lesson. If this Professor Tripper hates your family as much as you say he does…"

"He does!"

"Well then you'd better watch your step that's all I'm saying. You don't need any more enemies in this place Leesh, I'm losing track of the ones you already have."

"Don't forget Slimy Samuel," Rachel piped up cheerfully. Leshia grinned and elbowed the girl to keep quiet. She could see Katie was getting a little annoyed with their antics. Just how she could have become so serious by the first day of term was anybody's guess, but Leshia didn't want her to feel chastised for wanting to look out for her friends.

"Katie I'll be careful, I promise. Thanks for looking out for me."

Quite suddenly and without warning the door to the classroom slammed open and out stepped Silas Tripper. Up close the gnarled young man seemed a hell of a lot more frightening and as one the fourth years took a step backwards. Professor Tripper might have been quite good looking at one stage, his features were certainly fine and nicely arranged and he had soulful large dark eyes, but over the years and no doubt due to his dangerous profession, Silas Tripper had become badly scarred. Dressed once more in his scruffy robes concealing black clothes Professor Tripper looked worse than the scruffiest of students, though he had taken the time and effort to slick his long black hair back from his battered face. All in all the man gave a distinctly shady and slimy first impression and though he had not yet spoken, Leshia instantly disliked him

He looked like he really ought to bear the name Snape not Tripper, the girl felt. Silas Snape, it had a ring to it.

With a fierce expression Tripper glanced up and down the row of pupils, pausing momentarily to meet Leshia's eyes at which point the fierceness in his face turned positively hostile. After he had intimidated the studious Runes pupils enough Tripper looked over his shoulder into the classroom and barked in a deep raspy voice,

"Leave."

Inside the sound of scrambling ensued and soon a stream of third years were spilling out of the classroom. Amidst them was Eliot Wood, a good friend of Leshia's, who briefly met her gaze on the way past and shook her head, her eyes wide. It was a warning and despite her fiery nature, Leshia heeded it. Watching the youngsters rush away enviously the fourth years were very unwilling to step inside the classroom, but Tripper had now stalked inside leaving the door wide open for them.

"I'm not going in there," Leshia whispered as quietly as she could. Uncharacteristically, she looked afraid.

"Just keep your head down," Katie replied and she squeezed Leshia's arm tightly. "We'll be by your side the whole time. How bad can it be?" Rachel now leaned into Leshia's other side, showing that both the girl's best friends weren't going to let her suffer alone. With a firm nod Leshia filed into the classroom behind a frightened looking Tatiana Zambini. As soon as she stepped over the threshold her bag flew from her shoulder and landed on the very front desk right in front of the teacher. Leshia stared at it in horror and barely noticed that everyone else's bags were zooming off to various desks on their own accord. Katie's landed near the back of the classroom while Rachel's fell somewhere off to the right. They couldn't have been more spaced out.

"I have carefully assigned your desks," Tripper told the class gruffly when he noticed them all stalling. "So sit down." His tone was on par with Draco's when he was in a foul mood and the effect it had was instantaneous. Without even glancing at one another the pupils darted to their desks. Leshia approached her new desk with a heavy weight in her stomach. Tripper was watching her, an unreadable look on his face. She held his gaze as she lowered herself into her chair.

A nerve was twitching in Tripper's neck and quite suddenly his eyes narrowed in disgust. The girl was so alike her father; it was as though he were staring into Draco Malfoy's eyes. Quite suddenly Leshia looked away.

"Stop dawdling Miss Malfoy, everyone else is ready to start the lesson," the rasping reprimand came. Leshia nodded quickly and reached into her satchel to collect her enormous textbook, a piece of parchment and her quill. For a moment Leshia's fingers grazed over _the Secret of Strength _that she had been sent from home and instantly the rising temper in her dropped away leaving her quite philosophical about her situation. All she had to do was behave and get through the next hour without mouthing off. Surely she wasn't so immature that she couldn't manage something so simple?

"Where is Mr Black?" Everyone in the class glanced to the empty desk in the middle of the classroom that Tripper had directed his barking demand at.

"He was in our History of Magic lesson just now," Rachel offered.

"Five points from Gryffindor!" Rachel's jaw dropped. "You speak when asked to do so, is that clear Miss Weasley?" Leshia spun around in her seat to catch Rachel's gaze, her face contorted in sympathy for Tripper's cruel treatment of her.

"Yes sir," Rachel replied quietly, taking strength from her friend's support.

"Very well, we will begin without Mr Black who I hope has a very good reason for keeping me waiting. Eyes forward Miss Malfoy!" Quickly Leshia spun round in her chair again and caught Tripper's cruel eyes. His treatment of her best friend was not something she wanted to keep quiet about, but she was going to have to force herself to.

"Fourth years you will learn to obey my rules or you will find yourselves out in the corridor having to make up the time in detention. I do not put up with silliness, tardiness and bad behaviour and the only things I appreciate are hard work and discipline. Your results were adequate in last years examinations, but your previous teacher did not properly address the ministry curriculum and you are all behind in your studies."

Leshia shifted uncomfortably in her seat. There was no doubting Tripper's dig at her mother had been aimed at her, as he had glanced momentarily into her eyes as he did so, a smug self-satisfaction on his face. That his words were all lies was of course evident, Hermione had stuck perfectly to the curriculum she had known inside out and Hermione's exam results had been far better than average the last two years. She had set a new standard of excellence and it hurt Leshia to hear her so put down by this bully stood before her.

"You will have to work doubly hard this year to make up for Professor Granger's incompetence. Feel free to thank her the next time you see her." Leshia didn't need to turn around in her seat to see the defiance materialise on her classmate's faces. Hermione had been one of the most popular teachers in the school; there was no doubting the fact that the next time they saw her they would fawn around her enquiring about the new baby, rather than give her a hard time about their Ancient Runes course.

"We will start this year's course by discussing the Delvian family of Runes. By the end of the year we will have covered the Satian family of Runes, the Adarian family of Runes, the Hiiani family of Runes and the Khorosan family of Runes. We will also spend one lesson every fortnight studying the practical implications runes have had on today's society. Yes Miss Potter what is it?" The teacher was impatient and his voice sharp. Leshia glanced over her shoulder to see her raven-haired friend had slowly lifted her hand into the air.

"Sir will we be covering _five_ Rune families this year?" she asked shakily. Her face was drawn.

"Yes Miss Potter. Five." Katie snapped her hand back down to her desk and nodded in defeat. Leshia understood her incredulity. Last year they had struggled to cover and compare two families of Runes. Covering five such difficult families surely posed an impossible task? Leshia was sure the curriculum demanded no such feat from the teenagers. "If you feel this will be too great an inconvenience to you Miss Potter I can show you the door?"

His patronising tone made Leshia's skin crawl and for a moment she wanted to throw something very hard at the hateful man. Katie was the most hard working pupil Leshia knew and to make her feel incompetent and incapable was just plain cruel. Katie shook her head quickly and lifted up her quill; ready to start scribbling down notes the moment Tripper started speaking again.

"The Delvian family of Runes encompasses fifteen different alphabets. It dates back to the year three thousand BC." Everyone in the class started scribbling down frantically, eager not to miss a word. Everyone except Leshia; who continued to stare up at Tripper with slightly narrowed eyes. The teacher noticed. "Miss Malfoy," the teacher spoke slowly, a gratified smile on his face that the girl had given him a reason to single her out. "You may have been granted an O last year by your mother, but I have taken a look at your work. Do you think yourself to be a natural in this subject? You most certainly are not. Favouritism was another of Professor Granger's failings. You are going to have to do some work this year, so I suggest you start taking notes. You are going to need all the help you can get. Even then I am not hopeful you will make the grade."

Leshia's brow dipped in anger.

"I worked hard last year Professor," she finally replied truthfully.

"Indeed?" Tripper countered his eyebrows raised. "Well then, now I am certain you will not make the grade." With a slight limp the teacher stalked over to the door and wrenched it open. The whole class stared at him with wide eyes. "If that is the best of your ability then I do not want you in my class, you'll only slow the others down."

Leshia trembled slightly as she started losing control of her Malfoy temper.

"What?"

"You heard me. Get out."

"You can't throw me out."

"This is _my_ class Miss Malfoy, I can do what I like!" Tripper countered. "Now get out."

"Sir what have I done? You can't just chuck me out. I haven't done anything. If you think I'm dumb then fair enough, I promise I'll work harder, just don't…don't throw me out. Please?"

For a moment Tripper's upper lip curled as he stared at the girl with nothing short of hatred. What words were about to come tumbling from his mouth never came however, as at this moment Julius Black came skidding into the classroom.

"Sorry I'm la…"

"Detention!" Tripper cried out furiously. "And you…" The frightening man wheeled round on Leshia again. "Detention as well. Meet me in my study after dinner. _You_ had better keep your attitude in check, and you had better be on time." The teacher turned back on Julius Black who nodded quickly and followed his bag to his new desk.

"Now then, where was I? Delvian Runes!" And so off the teacher went. This time Leshia stayed absolutely silent and scribbled down every word the hateful man spoke. Needless to say by the end of the lesson the fourth years were as traumatised as the third years who preceded them had been and as they made their way down to lunch they could barely speak.

"He is, without a doubt, the most horrible person I have ever met," Katie finally spoke adamantly once they'd sat down at Gryffindor table. "I can't believe he called you stupid and was going to throw you out even though you got an O!"

"Katie it's fine, I told you he'd be like that," Leshia sighed.

"Leesh it's not fine," Rachel complained. "You worked damn hard last year. To think…"

"Guys!" Leshia laughed. "Just leave it please."

"But Leshia it's not okay! You know what this means right? You've got a detention; you won't be included in the Exchange Trip lottery anymore. You can't go anymore." For a moment Leshia sat in silence, her brow darkening in upset. Tripper had done her more damage than she had thought.

"Why don't you talk to your dad and see if…" Rachel began.

"No," Leshia countered sharply. "No way! It's fine." She was putting on a brave face. "Like I was going to last a week without getting in trouble anyway right?"

Leshia took the news of her disqualification from the trip far better than her friends did, who were out of sorts for the rest of the day despite the fact that they had a free afternoon after lunch due to the fact that their weekly Astrology lesson fell at midnight. She was forcing a brave face of course and inwardly felt more disappointed than she had in a long time. Tripper had won this battle, but she was determined she wasn't going to let him win many more.

XXX

Draco sat in the corner of the staff room studying his planning notes carefully. His last lesson of the day was a combined group of Gryffindor and Slytherin seventh years who had, through the course of their Hogwarts careers, been one of Draco's more challenging groups. Some were surly, others hyperactive. There were many gifted young witches and wizards in the class, but also many in need of extra help. And most of the time, they were at each others' throats. Draco's planning always had to be foolproof whenever he found himself teaching his 'worst' class.

The grand clock on the wall beside him was slowly ticking away what was left of lunchtime. He didn't have long left and yet still he had two pages of notes to cram in. He could have done without the distraction he was about to endure,

"Malfoy." Draco glanced up quickly and found Silas Tripper had dropped down across the table from him.

"Tripper." Every time he looked into that ruined face Draco felt his heart pound thunderously in his chest as the memories of being locked up in Azkaban came flooding back. "I'm busy and don't have time for…"

"Taught that girl of yours to be just like you I see," Tripper interrupted him with a cruel smile and narrowed eyes. Draco dropped his quill and leaned forward slightly.

"Okay you have my attention. What do you want?" The scarred man's smile grew as he leaned back in his chair, bringing his hands up behind his head. After dragging out the moment he nodded to a grand board that had only just been pinned up on the wall. It had been enchanted to show those pupils who had been given detention and were therefore out of the running for the exchange trip. Leshia's name was the fourth from the top.

"Your handiwork no doubt?" Draco spoke darkly, meeting Tripper's smug gaze.

"Not my fault you never taught that child manners." Draco chewed the insides of his cheeks for a few moments.

"She has manners," he finally spoke icily. "But then again she's only human and in the face of incessant provocation maybe she loses them."

"What makes you think I provoked her?"

"Because Tripper I know my daughter," Draco stated, his eyes cold. "And I know you." The look that passed between the two men spoke more than words could. "I advise you to leave her well alone if you know what's good for you."

"Is that a threat Malfoy?" Tripper growled. His smug smile had now been wiped from his face.

"No Silas it's not a threat. It's advice and I suggest you follow it."

"Well _I_ suggest you listen carefully," the dark haired man countered furiously, his voice barely louder than a whisper. "Crayik doesn't trust you anymore Draco. He knows all about Lucius. He knows all about _you_. He's finally taken off the rose tinted glasses and sees you for what you are: a dried up Death Eater who lost his nerve. You belong in prison Malfoy and I won't rest until I see you locked away."

"Crayik talks about his feelings to third rate Aurors now does he?" Draco spoke quietly, trying to keep his anger at bay.

"Does he have to? All these years he's stood in my way and kept me out of yours, his golden boy…" Tripper sneered as he spoke these words. "You can imagine my surprise when he told me he was transferring me to Hogwarts. Told me to keep an eye on 'Malfoy and the child'. Those were his exact words."

"What?" Draco had gone furiously pale and Tripper loved seeing his greatest foe so shocked.

"What part didn't you understand?"

"Crayik is watching Leshia?" A cruel smile wormed its way onto Tripper's face.

"And what if he is? Can't blame him can you?" The bell rang in the distance, but neither man heard it.

"Why?" Draco demanded hoarsely. "Why is he watching her?"

"I thought that much would be obvious," Tripper exclaimed gaily. "Malfoy I am disappointed. How the mighty have fallen." Draco remained silent, keeping his eyes trained on Tripper's smug face. "What would you do if you were Minister Crayik and your once top man turns out to be a pathological liar, who claimed he killed one of Voldemort's right hand men only to have this guy turn up again in the Wizarding world. Wouldn't you wonder what else this man had lied about? Who else he had claimed he'd destroyed? Who else could still be walking the streets?"

Draco stared icily at the man across the table from him, chewing the insides of his cheeks.

"As for this golden boy's child, the one he pretty much raised single-handedly, who has possibly been indoctrinated into the Dark Arts since the day she was born. What would you make of her if you were Minister Crayik, when you found out this child had been in contact with this dangerous henchman of the Dark Lord for nearly a year before she was found out?"

"She didn't…" Draco tried, but he trailed off.

"That girl of yours doesn't do things low key does she? Word of her antics has reached even the ministry's ears. Your days are number, so use them wisely. If you want her to be spared your fate, you had better pray she doesn't turn out to be as involved in all this as you are. So then I suppose the question is, how well do you know your daughter Malfoy?"

Everyone in the room stared as Draco lurched to his feet with such ferocity that his chair toppled over backwards. He had never seemed so enraged to the staff at Hogwarts and each and every one of them was very happy they weren't sitting where Tripper was right now.

"How _dare_ you," Draco articulated carefully, anger dripping from his every syllable. "If you implicate her, if you even _try,_ I will kill you. Do you understand?"

"Got something to hide do we Malfoy?" Tripper jeered, evidently in his element now he had riled such a reaction out of the blond man. Draco twitched, his anger getting harder to control; how easy it would be to reach for his wand. Then he saw it, that silver solid medallion hanging from the chain around Tripper's neck. The sight of it caught the breath in Draco's throat. He was mesmerised by it. Anxiously he rubbed the palm of his right hand with his left. All words had escaped him and he didn't know what to say.

"Draco," McGonagall was taking charge of the situation. Her hand rested on Draco's arm as she very gently tried to pull him away from the fray. "This isn't the time or the place."

Just a few moments longer Draco stared at the chunk of silver, stuck in his memories, before he finally nodded and glanced up into Tripper's eyes.

"Only a coward would turn on an innocent child Tripper," he spoke in a steely tone. "You've been warned." With this the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher lifted up his notes and stalked out.

"What are you worried about if she's got nothing to hide?" the scruffy newcomer called after him. His words fell on deaf ears and once Draco had stormed out the door the staff turned on Tripper with a collection of sour expressions. None were quite so bad as the filthy glare McGonagall cast Silas Tripper.

"You would do well to remember this is a school and _not_ the Ministry Silas."

XXX

Dinner came and went quicker than it ought to have leaving Leshia to begrudgingly part with her friends in order to run to the Ancient Runes study, which had once housed her mother's fascinating artefacts and had only ever provided the backdrop for good times for the girl. With its change in ownership, Leshia was entirely sure the poky little room could only ever offer her the very worst of times. Julius Black had somehow got ahead of her and just as he was about to knock on the door Leshia sprinted to catch up with him. He refrained from rapping his fist on the door until she had skidded to a halt beside him.

"Enter!" came the rasping order from within once the boy had alerted their teacher to their presence. Leshia glanced up at the tall Slytherin at her side, but he deigned her no such gesture and merely pushed the heavy door open. She followed the boy's lead into the dreary study that had been transformed since her mother had cleared out, into a freak show of rare magical artefacts. The girl had to drag her eyes from a particularly frightening device lest she let her mind wander, which would not do in Tripper's presence.

"Sit down, over there," the dark haired teacher ordered gruffly without looking up from a massive pile of parchments that buried the creaking desk. Leshia wanted very much to take her time and look around, but Julius Black had already stalked off to one of the spindly chairs in the corner positioned next to a table buried beneath a mountain of rocks caked in mud and clay and two rolls of parchments. With a slight grimace the Gryffindor followed his lead, sitting down in uncomfortable chair at his side.

Tripper looked no closer to looking up.

"Um, sir?" Leshia spoke cautiously. At her side Julius Black shut his eyes and shook his head minutely, his feelings clear on the fact that he felt his companion didn't quite understand their new Runes teacher yet.

"Wait!" Tripper's sharp rebuke came. The girl narrowed her eyes at the horrid man and then glanced up at her fellow detainee, who did not even look at her. Feeling alienated Leshia slouched down with difficulty in the chair and stared instead at the rubble strewn across the table. Peculiar Runes she did not recognise littered some of the rock faces and she was quite content to study them until finally Professor Tripper climbed to his feet and faced the youngsters sat in the corner.

"An explorer in Greece has donated this collection of rocks to Hogwarts to add to its collection. I haven't got time to catalogue them; I'm far too busy. I expect you to clean each artefact, make detailed notes on its appearance, use the Quick Sketch quills to draw an impression of each artefact and finally to create an inventory of the finds." Leshia glanced from the rubble-strewn table back to the teacher in indignant surprise.

"But professor that'll take forever," she spoke without thinking.

"Did I say you had to do them all?" Tripper demanded shrilly, seemingly finding the slightest excuse to berate the girl. "Don't think me a fool Miss Malfoy, I am well aware that two _fourth year_ pupils won't be able to complete such a task in one sitting. You'll work till I come and collect you and if I don't think you've covered enough ground in that time then you will be joining me again tomorrow. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," the boy at Leshia's side quickly responded. She fought back a grimace at his obedience.

"Get to it then." Without a glance back at the teenagers Tripper stalked from the room into the corridor. Leshia listened carefully to his footsteps fading away while her companion picked up the first of the artefacts and a small brush.

"I can't believe how much you kiss his arse Black," the girl finally accused venomously as she reached out to grab one of the smaller artefacts. Julius Black tightened his jaw, but said nothing. "Say, why were you late today anyway. We saw you running off in the opposite direction to us after History of Magic." Again, a stony silence followed in which Leshia swiped across the rune stone in her hand with the little brush Tripper had provided. Secretly she was thinking the next time she met her mother she was going to have to ask for a spell that performed the same function, as no doubt she would find herself in this poky study on a regular basis.

"You should be careful with that." Julius finally deigned to speak; he sounded aloof. "It's nearly three thousand years old." The blonde girl wrinkled her brow and stared at the rock in her hand.

"And how do _you_ know _that_?" For just a moment Julius glanced into the girl's grey eyes, which he soon seemed to regret because he looked away sharply.

"Tripper doesn't seem to know anything about Runes," he sighed. "If he did then he wouldn't be entrusting this delicate task to two fourth years." Leshia instantly softened her grip on the stone in her hand.

"Well what's so special about them?" The wrinkle in her forehead had deepened.

"They're Runes from Delphi. Back then Wizards with the Inner Eye were sort of worshipped as oracles to the Gods. It's very rare to find Runes surviving from these oracles. He's a fool."

"Okay two things," Leshia spoke sharply. "How the _hell _do you all this stuff and why do you suck up to him if you don't even like him?" Julius Black shook his head.

"You're also a fool Malfoy. If you wind him up the same way you try and wind everyone up…"

"I don't try!" Julius merely spoke louder to drown out the girl's complaint,

"Then you're going to find yourself in serious trouble even your parents can't dig you out of." Leshia glared darkly at the boy and turned back to her Rune Stone, trying to wipe away the age-old dirt from its delicate surface with renewed care and attention.

"You didn't answer my first question."

"I don't want to."

The pair lapsed into silence and worked hard at taking notes on the stones. Leshia found it hard to suppress her grin of delight when she first experimented with the Quick Sketch quill and realised how well it recreated what she set it to. The work was slow and arduous and though she was, as Julius had pointed out, the daughter of a prominent expert on Ancient Runes, Leshia found the work hard going. She needed a distraction,

"Why were you late today?" Julius Black exhaled heavily, but didn't respond. "Are the Slytherins giving you a hard time after they saw you carted into the hospital wing that night at the end of term?"

"I don't have anything to say to you on the matter Malfoy."

"But they must know you helped me. Why else would you be there?" Julius, unsurprisingly, remained silent. "So why did you do it?"

"I had my reasons."

"Yeah, but what were they?"

"Malfoy I'm not going to tell you again, so listen carefully; I am never going to tell you about that night or what has happened since between myself and my housemates. So do us both a favour and stop talking to me. If you don't step up the pace Tripper's going to make us both come back and I don't intend on finding myself in here with you again."

Leshia stared at the Slytherin enigma with narrowed eyes.

"Fine," she finally stated icily and turned her back on the boy. With a newfound resolution she worked efficiently and amazingly when Tripper returned close to eleven-o clock he deemed their work to be adequate and didn't insist upon them coming back. Once they had reached the corridor and were due to go their separate ways to catch a little rest before their Astrology lesson Leshia turned to glance at the Slytherin boy, but he had already started off in the other direction.

"Thanks for a wonderful evening Julius!" she called after him, more than a little mischief edging into her voice. "We should do this again some time!"

XXX

Draco smiled. How could he not? He lay on the soft rug in his and Hermione's bedroom, the soft sheepskin tickling his bare back while sleeping soundly on his chest, still small enough for his large hand to cover like a blanket, lay his baby daughter. He marvelled at how small Evie was. He couldn't remember Leshia's babyhood very well; he'd been a busy man and it was nearly fifteen years ago now. He couldn't now imagine a time when she had been as small as Evie was now. That she could have been small enough for his hand to span her whole back was quite remarkable and to think that one day this daughter, the spitting image of her sister, would one day be as Leshia was now was equally as mind boggling to the father.

For now he hoped she'd never grow up. She was far too precious to tarnish with the harshness of teenagehood and all other horrors that Leshia had lived through. She was much easier to protect when she couldn't get herself into the troubles her older sister managed so easily to find herself in on a daily basis.

"I love watching you with her." Hermione had been gazing at her husband from the bathroom door for quite some time now.

"You love watching her full stop," Draco chuckled, purposefully softening his tone so as not to wake the sleeping baby.

"It's the whole man with a baby thing, we women can't resist," his wife sighed contentedly and after depositing her hairbrush on the dressing table she approached her husband and child and carefully lowered herself onto the ground at his side. Draco kissed her forehead adoringly once she had snuggled into his side, leaning her tired head on his shoulder.

"Good to know," he replied with a smile.

"What do you mean?"

"Well you know, if I ever need to replace you, I'll just take this one out with me on the town." Hermione smiled broadly.

"If you ever need to replace me, you'll be replacing her to. She'll be coming with me. I don't think I could ever part with her now that she's here." Draco's smile turned into a wry one and quickly he kissed his wife once more.

"I'd never take her from you," he told her in all seriousness. He knew of his wife's worries even though she would never speak them out loud. That she might somehow miss her daughter's childhood was her biggest fear. The ramifications her ordeal during Leshia's upbringing had wrought were deeply rooted and long lasting.

Hermione smiled warmly at her husband's understanding of her deepest fears.

"How was Leshia today?" Draco smiled and shook his head.

"Troublesome. She's already been disqualified from the exchange trip draw." Hermione had been told all about the Exchange Trip. She looked surprised.

"By who?"

"Tripper. Who else?" Draco replied with a bitter bite to his voice directed not at his dear wife, but the horrid man he couldn't quite look in the eye. "To be fair, it was only a matter of time before she found herself in some detention or other. I'm surprised it happened so soon, but we both knew she'd never make a week without doing something stupid. Especially with the way she's been acting lately."

"Oh it's just a shame," Hermione sighed. "Poor little thing." Draco could almost feel her heart aching and he squeezed her tighter.

"She's happy sweetheart. Just remember that."

XXX

Feeling exhausted from the night's astrology lesson without a customary pre-lesson nap Leshia was a little late to rise the following day. Even Rachel's best efforts had little effect on the blonde girl, who rolled out of bed and into the shower just as the main queue was gathering. Katie and Rachel didn't wait for her.

Leshia grumbled fondly about her friends under her breath as she waited, hugging her enormously long dusty green cardigan about herself. She'd never seen the need for a proper flannel dressing gown when she had this fabulous garment that had once belonged to her mother until she pinched it out of her wardrobe. It was so warm often the girl though her mother must have enchanted it to defy the cold and so soft it was like wrapping herself in the softest silk magic could make. Who needed style when there was such comfort on offer?

"Bit early for you eh Malfoy?" Leshia opened her eyes and quickly pushed herself away from the wall outside the bathrooms that she had been leaning against, her eyes shut in a gentle nap while she waited. Owen Gabriel had caught her and when Leshia's eyes fell on the young man the colour started rising in her cheeks. A towel wrapped around his waist and not much else Owen Gabriel was breaking the house rules about flaunting oneself in public. The girl had to admit, though he was being foolish, he looked very good doing it.

"You'll be dead if one of the paintings tells McGonagall you've been walking around dressed like that," Leshia smirked. Owen grinned and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"I think 'dead' is a little bit of an exaggeration shorty," he chuckled. "I mean it's not like I'm whipping it off or anything. Then I might be in trouble." At the thought of him doing as such the third year girls in the queue behind Leshia giggled giddily humbling Owen slightly into smiling wryly at his friend.

"So Tripper gave you a hard time yesterday huh?" Leshia frowned.

"How'd you know?"

"Saw you heading off to his study after dinner. Plus you never came back, so I guessed you were having a pretty rough time. What did you do to piss him off?"

"I'm a Malfoy, plain and simple," the blonde girl sighed. Owen furrowed his brow curiously. "It's a long story."

"You can tell me, come on, it's not like I've got anything better to do right?" His wicked smile belied the fact that the water that was still jewelled over his toned body was dripping onto the carpet beneath his feat. Leshia grinned and wanted to reach out and give him a shove, but felt somehow peculiar about touching his bare skin, so refrained.

"Go and get dressed you moron before McGonagall finds out you were parading about in a hand towel and you get a month's detention for it."

"Bet you'd like to see me parade about in a hand towel."

"Go!" Leshia laughed heartily. As though he realised that he would be in big trouble if caught Owen smiled at his friend and briefly ruffled her hair before he made a quick getaway up to the boys' dormitories. Leshia watched him go with a silly smile on her face; Owen Gabriel may have been a bit on the tall side, but he was filling out and growing into a real young man.

Half an hour later and Leshia had dropped down amidst her friends at Gryffindor table. Her friends had already eaten, but they stayed at her side to join her while she ate hers. Everyone was still a little silly and giddy from it being the start of the year and the whole hall was awash with loud chatter and laughter.

"Muggle Studies then Herbology, that's a pretty sweet line-up," Parys announced to the table at large with a loud yawn.

"Well that all depends on if Professor Sprout's going to roll out something lethal during class today or not," Rodeo countered. "I mean she's been known to."

"Yeah or something really boring," Leshia added thoughtfully through a mouthful of toast.

"Hey yeah, what were those stupid little pear things we had to look after in first year?" Rodeo laughed, his big smile lighting up his handsome face and dragging a smile out of the blonde girl as she remembered their first year project in which they had to rear a tiny half plant half beast creature from infancy into adulthood.

"Rodes the Hillipups weren't stupid," Katie countered dolefully. "They were adorable. I still miss Fifi, he was so cute." The bespectacled girl's friends exchanged a look of disbelief.

"I can't believe you remember its name. That's sad Katie," Rachel finally snorted.

"Oh yeah? I bet you remember Pooperscooper; you were really attached to her. And you Leesh, you spent so much time caring for Marmite. I bet you _do_ remember them."

"You called yours Pooperscooper?" Parys laughed, clutching at his sides to stop them from hurting in his ecstasy. Rachel didn't dignify his mirth with a response, though she did flick a cornflake at the boy.

"All I remember about Marmite was that he was pretty damn good at projectile vomiting," Leshia finally concluded with a frown. "And…yeah that's about it."

"What was the point in them again?" Rodeo now asked, his own brow arranged into a thoughtful frown.

"I hear Professor Sprout made a pretty tasty broth out of them all," Parys explained with a mischievous grin. His suggestion elicited a highly shocked utterance from Katie, who instantly whacked him playfully about the head.

"She did not!"

"Relax Katie, they probably lived out their pear days in sunny cage somewhere," Rodeo soothed amusedly, though he did wink conspiratorially at his friend, congratulating him on his ruse. Their argument could have happily carried on, but at this point several of the youngsters fell into shadow. Without needing to turn around Leshia knew who had silently come to stand behind her.

"Can I have a word?" Her friends had gone totally silent, and after swallowing her toast Leshia arranged her face into an expressionless arrangement before she turned round to meet her father's eyes.

"Fine." After lifting her satchel onto her shoulder Leshia extricated herself from the bench and smiled at her friends encouragingly. "I'll meet you guys outside Muggle Studies okay?"

Draco led his daughter out of the great hall and towards a relatively empty corridor. He had meant to wait till he had her class next, but that would mean waiting another day for Wednesday to bring the girl's next Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson and to be honest, he was worried about her.

"How's things going?" the concerned father asked once they'd walked far enough away from the castle goings on. Leshia stopped walking and crossed her arms, staring incredulously at her father. Had he really dragged her out of breakfast to ask her how things were going?

"Things _were_ going great. What's the matter dad? What have I done?" Draco smiled sadly.

"So I need an excuse to talk to you now?"

"Well…no, but…" The girl couldn't think of a way to excuse her words, so she quickly crossed her arms and stared up at her father with her Malfoy defiance.

"I'm worried about you," Draco finally spoke, his voice more gentle than normal.

"Why?"

"All the time you're going to have to spend with Tripper actually. I see you've already crossed him. What happened yesterday?" Leshia sighed and wanted to walk away, she hated it that her parents always knew about everything that happened to her at school.

"Nothing major. It's fine."

"Leshia I'm begging you to be careful with that man." There was such a serious pleading tone to her father's usually brusque voice that Leshia frowned concernedly. She had never heard her father beg for anything in her life. "You have to be careful."

"Yeah," she finally said obviously. "Well of course I'll be careful."

"Sweetheart for the first time there are going to be serious consequences for your actions. You've got to watch your back, he's dangerous." Leshia narrowed her eyes as she examined her father's sincere face. She didn't like seeing him so concerned. Draco had always been an emotionless pillar of strength in the face of adversity, well, in all aspects of his life really. He had never been overly sentimental or adoring with his family and friends, though the love was there and everyone knew it. He was brusque, laconic, stoic; that's just how he was and to see him so concerned made Leshia's skin crawl.

"You're being weird," she finally concluded gloomily. Draco sighed and nodded.

"Not as weird as you've been all summer." For a moment a small smile adorned Leshia's face; a smile her father shared. Their identical grey eyes met for a moment before the girl realised what she was doing and promptly stopped.

"Tripper's horrid," she quickly complained trying to get out of the intimate and familiar moment they had shared.

"Tripper_ is_ horrid you're right and he's got it in for you, so you've got to watch your back. He's a nasty piece of work sweetheart and he's sly too…please just be careful?"

"Dad I already said I'd be careful. Now can I go? I've got Muggle Studies and if you're late Professor Lewis likes to give detentions and to be honest, I don't feel like having another detention this week."

"Yes about that, whatever happened between you and Tripper yesterday, you know it's knocked you out of the running for the Exchange Trip?" Leshia nodded, a stony expression on her face. "Do you want me to try and get you back in with a chance?"

The girl's eyes snapped onto her father again and this time her face was cold. Gone was their semblance of a normal conversation and she seemed positively outraged that he'd dare suggest such a thing.

"Don't you remember you're not meant to be my dad at school? Just stay out of it." With this the girl turned on heal and started storming away from her irritated father.

"Alecia don't walk away from me." The girl sped up and before Draco could call after her a second time she'd rounded a corner and was gone. Her father grinded his teeth furiously, wondering how quickly their somewhat pleasant conversation could have deteriorated.

"You don't let me be your dad at home either," he finally uttered under his breath sounding both sorry for himself and furious all in one. With a thundercloud over his mood Draco stalked off in the opposite direction to reach his classroom, where the poor second years he had first thing would bare the brunt of his temper.

Leshia's mood soon repaired when she met up with her friends outside their Muggle Studies classroom and she spent the day flitting between some of her favourite lessons with a smile on her face. Whenever she came across her father in the corridor she avoided his eyes and felt a little guilty to see she had put him in a cross mood that was not abating. She wasn't sure who she felt worse for, Draco or the poor pupils he would no doubt punish for her insolence. This guilt however, could not bring her to apologise and when the bell rang at the end of the day the weight lifted from her shoulders when she realised her peers were out of danger.

The common room was crowded after lessons finished and when the fourth years eventually scrambled across their housemates to their usual window box and table they were all very affronted to find it occupied.

"Oy," Rachel addressed the chattering first years. Leshia sniggered at her side, while Katie assumed a look that seemed to impress upon everyone in the vicinity her fervent insistence that she and Rachel were not related. "What do you think you're doing?"

The first years stared at the older girls with wide eyes, each turning to look at the others to see who was going to have the guts to stand up to the fourth years. Finally the boldest of the youngsters sat up straight, her familiar face arranged into a defiant expression

"We got here first, you can't just reserve a section of the common room," Sophie Gabriel spoke clearly and boldly.

"Yes we bloody well can, we _always_ sit there, have done for the last three years. You sprogs are just going to have to find somewhere else to sit." Leshia no longer sniggered at Rachel's side while the redhead took control; it felt awkward berating Owen's little sister, but at the same time didn't want to sacrifice their usual haunt. If they let the first years have it now, they would never get it back as this would make way for everyone else who had been eyeing up their hang out for the last three years.

"Well if you've sat here the last three years then it's someone else's turn don't you think?" Sophie Gabriel countered full of conviction. Rachel opened and closed her mouth a few times, unsure of how to counter the girl.

"Sophe move it!" Leshia and her friends spun around to see Owen Gabriel had somehow materialised on the scene with his friends in tow. He seemed amused by the whole thing, but when he addressed his little sister his voice was firm.

"But Owen they…"

"This is my friend Leshia." As if by magic the whole scene changed. The young girl sat in the window box turned to Leshia with an enormous smile and instantly she sized her up.

"_Your_ Leshia is actually Alecia Malfoy?" the girl finally cried out happily.

"What?" Leshia demanded. "What does she mean?" Owen though shook his head at his friend and beckoned his little sister forward urgently. Sophie though, was far too caught up by the fact that she had just discovered that the girl Owen had been going on about last year was Alecia Malfoy, the girl she hadn't stopped hearing about since coming to school.

"Owen," Leshia warned darkly.

"It's nothing Shorty, don't worry about it," he pacified her charmingly and though his heart was pounding at the embarrassment of it all he managed to keep his cool. He only needed to take a step towards the window box before his sister realised he was serious and quickly jumped down with her friends at her side.

"All yours _Leshia_," she sang happily as she waltzed past. The blonde girl hadn't taken her eyes off Owen, who offered her a meek smile before he and his friends moved out as well leaving the Katie and Rachel grinning at one another.

"Sure he doesn't like you, we believe you," the redhead finally laughed.

"Oh give over," Leshia grumbled, before she climbed up to the window seat with ease and shuffled in as far as she could go so that she could lean back and put her feet up on the wall. The girl stared out of the small bevelled window determinedly, trying to pretend her friends were not still stood beside the padded ledge grinning at one another. After a while Rachel scrambled in after her, positioning herself so her upper body rested beside Leshia's feet and her own beside the girl's head. She continued to smirk at her friend while Katie struggled in last, letting her feet dangle down over the edge; she was getting a little too big to sit sideways in the window box and much preferred it when the three girls sat side by side, their legs dangling over the edge.

"You two are going to drive me mad with all this Owen rubbish," Leshia grumbled seriously. Rachel continued to smirk at the girl, but Katie, who could see Leshia's face lay devoid of any mirth realised they would soon become the brunt of her Malfoy temper if they pushed her too hard.

"We didn't mean anything by it," Katie soothed.

"Yeah we did!" Rachel countered happily. She was looking at Leshia and therefore couldn't see the look of warning her raven-haired cousin was casting at her. "You and that bo…_Oy_!" Leshia spun around in time to see Katie's fingers retreating from Rachel's leg that she had just pinched and despite herself she smiled. "What d'you do that for?"

"Because you're clueless and you need to learn how to think before you speak," the oldest of the three girls chuckled fondly.

"That'll be the day," Leshia uttered under her breath.

"I'll have you know I know perfectly well what I'm going to say before I say it. Just because you don't agree with it doesn't mean you have to attack my leg," Rachel grumbled.

"Leshia!" Leshia looked up at the sound of her name and saw a familiar face coming towards her through the crowds: Mila Evanovitch, the Quidditch captain.

"Hi Mila," the blonde girl called out cheerfully; she had been wondering how long it would be before quidditch started up again. Their team still retained its full compliment, thankfully being spared any seventh year departures in the summer. They would not be spared this fate again however, as this was Mila's last year in charge meaning she wanted to go out with a bang as it were. It wasn't enough for the young woman that Gryffindor had not been knocked off the top spot in three years, she needed to leave behind a legend. Her long-standing boyfriend Luka Ibrahim, who had once played Chaser for the Hogwarts team was now enjoying a flourishing professional quidditch career and if Mila wanted to join him she was going to have to step up the pace. She truly was a talented chaser herself, but it was her hard work ethic and her commitment to the game that set her apart. How the team was going to manage without her Leshia had no idea.

"Have a nice summer?" the pretty seventh year asked once she's stridden over to the window box.

"Yeah it was okay, how was yours?" A dreamy look materialised on the older girl's face.

"Wonderful!" she gushed. "Luka and I went travelling around Central Europe tracing our roots. It was so much fun! We ran into Ryan and Amy in Prague and spent the weekend with them. They are so in love, I bet you anything we'll all be hearing the sound of wedding bells before too long." Leshia laughed incredulously.

"Lofting? Get married?"

"Well he's a grown man now Malfoy. They're living together and everything." The thought of her idol marrying and growing up was a bit disconcerting to the teenager squeezed in the window box, so very quickly she changed the subject.

"How's Luka doing? Is he still with the Montrose Magpies?" Mila beamed proudly and nodded.

"Yep, second year running. He was the third highest Goal Scorer in the league last season. They think he'll make the England team at the next Quidditch World Cup." Now Leshia seemed genuinely intrigued.

"Really? That's so good! When _is_ the next world cup?"

"Summer after next, but they start training pretty early. Anyway, enough chit chat, quidditch practice, it starts tomorrow."

"I'll be there," Leshia stated cheerfully. Mila cast her a look of warning that was ripe with fondness.

"Will you? I hear you've already bagged yourself a detention."

"Well yeah, but that wasn't my fault," Leshia quickly explained, hoping she wouldn't cop an earful from her captain as well as everyone else who felt they needed to poke their noses in.

"It never is though is it?" Mila chuckled, her smile a genuine one. "Four-o clock down at the quidditch pitch. Don't be late."

"I'll be there." With one last beaming smile the captain of the champion quidditch team wandered back into the fray to catch some of her other players and let them know about the prompt return to training. Leshia's smile fell the moment Mila's back was turned.

"What are you being so funny about?" Rachel asked amusedly.

"Is it about Ryan maybe getting married?" Katie asked, once again proving she was perceptive beyond her years and very in tune to emotional goings on where her friends were concerned. Leshia turned her large grey eyes on the girl and nodded slowly.

"It's just…well everything's changing isn't it?"

"Yes," Katie agreed kindly. "But then again Ryan left over a year ago now Leesh, you must be used to him not being in your life anymore."

"Well he still is in my life, I mean we write to each other every month. If not more," Leshia complained, but after thinking about it she nodded meekly. "You're right though, it's not the same. I just can't imagine him doing something so grown up. He's still the same old Ryan Lofting that used to take pleasure out of throwing me round the common room like a rag doll. Come to think of it, the last time I saw him down Diagon Alley a few weeks ago he tried to do it again, but the shop was crowded and Mr Blott stopped him."

"Why is it that every bloke you come into contact with always inevitably picks you up and lobs you across a room?" Rachel piped up with a thoughtful look on her face eliciting fond laughter from her friends. "I bet it's because you're small."

"I must just bring it out in people," Leshia sighed with a smile, the gravity of the moment now a thing of the past. She would be happy for Ryan Lofting no matter what he did with his life or how old he became. He was like a brother to her and she idolised him.

"We should get started on that Potions assignment before the library gets too busy," Katie instructed after a pleasant silence. Leshia and Rachel stared at their friend incredulously.

"Kate it's like the second day back, are you mad?" Rachel complained on their behalf.

"No I'm just being logical. Think about it, tomorrow we've got our second Defence Against the Dark Arts and Runes lesson of the week so you can bet we'll get homework in those lessons and the Potions assignment is for Friday so, well, I just don't want to get swamped. I bet Tripper will set us something really hard in Runes."

Her friends glanced to one another with matching grim expressions at the thought that they would be spending their second afternoon home at the castle trudging down to the library.

"And think about it," Katie was carrying on. "Tomorrow you'll have quidditch training Leshia, so when are you going to fit everything in?"

"Well…" For a moment Leshia paused and chewed her lower lip. "Have you seen the sunshine though Katie? I mean can't we work outside?" As though to prove her point about the glorious afternoon Leshia flung her hand toward the small window, smacking accidentally into the bevelled glass with her knuckles.

"Well…"

"Please," Rachel pleaded. "All we'd need to do is get a few books out and we'd be sorted."

"Pretty please." With matching doleful expressions the two girls teamed up against Katie, who had the sense to realise that if she wanted her friends to cooperate she was going to have to meet them half way.

"Okay fine, as long as you to promise to actually do some work instead of just dossing about." Rachel and Leshia sniggered to one another, but nodded nonetheless.

"Well you know we do like the dossing around," Leshia finally spoke sounding reluctant.

"And it is such fine dossing around weather," Rachel added amusedly.

"Fine, if you're just going to take the mickey out of my offer then…"

"No!" the pair of jokers quickly offered, both smiling sheepishly to show they had meant no harm.

"Fine then, let's go." So Katie led her friends first to the library to collect some books and then out into the gloriously sunny grounds, where most of their peers weren't studying as they were, but what Katie would have aptly called 'dossing around'. Leshia and Rachel regarded their peers with jealous glances. After finding a relatively quiet spot the three girls dropped down on the warm grass and sprawled out along with their notes and books. It didn't take long for Leshia and Rachel to go back on their promise to behave.

"Hey hey Leesh, who am I?" Rachel suddenly announced with delight and after laughing herself silly over her joke to come she sat up straight, pressed her hand to her throat and spoke in a voice that was definitely not her own, but sounded remarkably like Professor Tripper's, "In my free time I like to dress up in mama's Sunday frocks and dance the polka round my sitting room."

"The speech stealer!" Leshia squealed, her face contorted in joy and she pulled Rachel's hand back to see a tiny device on a leather choker that Rachel had been given as a Christmas present in second year. It had allowed them to cause all manner of chaos back then.

"Oh why did you bring that back to school?" Katie grumbled the moment she saw Leshia turning it over in her hands.

"Never know, thought we might need it that's all," Rachel replied with a big smile.

"This is wicked, brings back so many fond memories," Leshia sighed happily.

"Oh put it away and get on with some work. You two promised!" Her threat hanging over them, Leshia and Rachel rolled onto their fronts and turned their quills back on their parchments.

"I can't believe you're not going on the trip," Rachel finally uttered under her breath so that Katie didn't hear her. This was something that had been on her mind since Katie had pointed out that Leshia's detention meant she would not be going on the trip. Lying out here in the sun pretending to do some work the grim thought had been rolling around in her mind.

"Yeah well you probably won't be going either. Every fourth year and over signed up for that thing," Leshia replied with a forced smile. The fact that she had been so unfairly removed from the running had also been weighing on her mind, but the more she thought about it, the more she felt the urge to torch the Ancient Runes classroom to the ground, which would not do.

"Yeah, but if on the odd chance I _do_ get chosen, I don't want to go without you Leesh."

"Well Katie's still signed up." The look that Rachel gave Leshia spoke what she dared not say in front of their best friend; Leshia knew that as far as her redhead friend felt she was by far the more desirable travel companion.

"Well yeah, but it would have been cool if we could all go," Rachel quickly covered. She had been silent too long and Katie had looked up sharply to see why Leshia's assurance that Rachel would not be alone hadn't elicited a relieved response from her cousin.

"What have you got for question four Rachel?" the bespectacled girl asked loudly.

"I haven't got to that one yet," her cousin mumbled sheepishly.

"Leesh?"

"Um…ten?" Katie stared blankly at the blonde girl for a moment, until finally she lowered her glasses on her nose donning a highly bemused expression.

"You got the answer ten for, 'Why must the powdered asphodel be added exactly three seconds before the silver shavings?'" Leshia blinked.

"Yeah," she finally replied cockily. "Why? What did you get?"

"Oh you two are impossible! I'm already on question eleven. Do we have to be out here all day? Get some work done will you?"

"You know free time used to be fun," Rachel remarked sounding putout, but after Katie turned her highbrowed glare on the girl she quickly returned to her work with renewed vigour and a brow dramatically furrowed in thought. Leshia smiled at their theatrics feeling renewed joy at being in their presence again, before she too returned to the irritatingly difficult assignment.

It wasn't long before their moment of hard work was interrupted once more.

"What are you lot doing?" Seconds after Parys' call he and Rodeo suddenly appeared kicking a muggle football between them. When the girls didn't really heed them Parys rolled the ball over Rachel's assignment, smudging her last sentence and knocking over her inkpot.

"Parys you muppet, look what you did!" After laughing goofily the boy dropped down on his knees and peered over her work.

"That one's wrong anyway," he told her simply after he glanced at the sentence he'd ruined.

"What do you mean wrong? Like _you've_ done the assignment already," Rachel accused, a smug smile on her feisty face.

"What makes you think we haven't done it yet?"

"For starters you two are well known for your last minute botch jobs and secondly Snape just gave us this assignment like half and hour ago, so you'd have had to do it in like ten minutes flat, because we've been watching you over there playing football for the last twenty minutes."

"And what makes you so sure we didn't do it the moment we got back from class?" Parys continued jeering.

"Well did you?" Leshia finally intervened, an amused expression on her face. Parys turned his bright eyes on the girl and shrugged in a charming sort of way.

"No, but we could have."

"So how do you know my answer's wrong?"

"Because you've spelt 'wand' with a V that's why." For a moment Leshia was overcome with laughter, which she wasn't able to recover from until Rachel pulled out her wand and threatened to curse her with the Speaking Curse. Needless to say when faced with her fiery friend wand a-ready Leshia soon sobered up and shrugged apologetically.

"What was all that about?" Rodeo managed through stifled laughter.

"Absolutely nothing, old private joke," the blonde girl replied with a big smile directed at her best friend. She wasn't going to embarrass the girl further by revealing that Rachel's peculiar inability to spell the word 'wand' had once before brought her great mirth.

"I want to get one of those spellchecking quills," Rachel grumbled while she leant over her work and quickly corrected her simple mistake.

"We're not allowed them are we?" Parys countered. The boys had both relaxed at the girls' side now, sprawling out in the waning sunlight and stretching their long bodies. Rachel's bag had become Parys' headrest and though she kept pulling at his hair playfully to annoy him in response to embarrassing her, he merely sidled nearer to her every time she touched him.

"No we're not," Katie replied, a familiar dreamy expression creeping onto her beautiful face.

"Just learn how to spell 'wand' Rach, it's not that hard," Leshia chuckled genially before she reached over and plucked the football from under Rodeo's arm. Happily the girl started throwing the ball up in the air and catching it in her boredom.

"Do you mind," the tall boy at her side remarked amusedly. "That's not a toy."

"What is it then?"

"It's a serious piece of sporting equipment," the boy countered, before he leaned up on his forearms to smile at the blonde girl now clutching his football to her front with both arms. "You've got to treat it with respect."

"Oh and how am I not treating it with respect?" the girl sniggered.

"You're not taking it seriously."

"Oh please, the way you lot kick it about I'm doing it a lot less harm."

"Yeah, but it's a football. It wants to be kicked. That's like releasing a snitch with no intention of catching it. I mean that's just cruel." Leshia cocked her head to one side as she regarded Rodeo in a new light. She'd not had the opportunity to really talk to the boy for a good year or so, not since he and Katie had started teaming up against her. She'd forgotten about his intriguing and unique take on the world; even if he was only joking.

"Okay then, I'll take it seriously," Leshia announced, before she climbed to her feet and backed away from the group. "Play with me." Rodeo smiled lopsidedly.

"Play with _you_?" he repeated fondly.

"What's the matter Rodes? Think you'll get beaten by a girl?" Never had more magic words been invented in getting a boy to do something Leshia thought to herself as Rodeo quickly climbed to his feet, his smile now a dashing one.

"Come on then," he was saying cheerfully. "Give it your best shot." His arms were outstretched as he moved away from the group, evidently welcoming the challenge.

"What do you want me to do?" the girl asked, now a little shy.

"Try and get past me." Having only played football a few times before, but being a natural at most sports Leshia charged forward opting for speed instead of skill. Within moments Rodeo had picked the ball from between her legs and spun out of her path with the agility of a natural himself. Having grown up with a professional athlete for a father Rodeo had been playing sports since he could walk and though he was quite prodigal at his father's game Ice Hockey, football was where his heart lay.

Leshia skidded to a halt and found the boy rolling the ball back to her, his dashing smile still in place.

"Try going a bit slower this time. How do you expect to keep control of the ball if you've kicked it out of reach?" Leshia smiled and shrugged, accepting his advice. The next time she approached her friend she did so at a snail's pace and managed for a few moments at least to keep the ball from him. A strange feeling was stirring in the pit of her stomach every time he tackled her, a strange fluttery feeling that she had, until now, only ever associated with Owen Gabriel. Within no time Rodeo had plucked the ball from his friend once more, only this time she played dirty and shoulder barged him to get it back.

"Foul play!" Parys called from the ground and within seconds he was on his feet to help his friend, who was grinning fit to burst. Against the two young men Leshia stood no choice and soon it became evident that rather than pass the ball around she was the one being passed between them.

"Two against one!" Rachel cried out jubilantly, happy to have an excuse to be pulled away from her work. Within moment she had joined in the messy amusing game that had rather deteriorated into something resembling rugby, not football. Their laughter carried across the grounds and though the four players were having the time of their lives Katie sat watching them with a stony expression. Each time Rodeo threw himself at one of her friends she felt her heart sink a little lower. What aggravated the girl the most was her own weakness for feeling for the boy again. What power did he hold over her? It wasn't fair!

XXX

Needless to say it took the girls all night to finish their Runes assignments. They were happy though to have worked so hard as Katie's prediction about Runes and Defence Against the Dark Arts shafting them with an impossible workload the next day came true. Tripper's assignment was positively ghastly and though Leshia had two hours' training on the quidditch pitch to look forward to, her friends headed straight to the library to get started. They had finished the day with PE and being already changed for her training Leshia was able to join them for a bit before the training ground called her away.

The seeker felt she had an awfully large amount of aggression to dispel after Tripper had tried his hardest to lure her into behaving out of line again. She had resisted thinking only of her quidditch career and obediently held her tongue in the face of monstrous lies about her mother's teaching methods and her own intelligence. After break during her father's lesson she had let some of her anger out and had been thoroughly warned about letting it happen again. Draco was taking a firm stance and Leshia knew better than to behave out of line.

She wasn't the first down at the pitch even though she was five minutes early. Her friend Jaime Wood was already putting in the laps, practising her scoring technique now no one was around to watch her. The daughter of the famous Scottish Keeper Oliver Wood, Jaime and her twin sister were both excellent young flyers. The girls were built on the same design as Leshia, small, wiry and heads full of blonde curls. Jaime and Leshia often teamed up together in practice and seeing her mate so unsuspecting and open to attack the mischievous seeker jumped onto her broom and raced up taking Jaime by surprise. As the quaffle was carried down to the pitch by a brisk wind a frantic chase broke out across the heavens with the two pint-sized wunderkinds giggling up a storm.

"Nice one Wood!" Leshia cried out over the howling wind after her friend pulled off an impressive roll that nearly toppled Leshia from her broom.

"I've been practising!" the smaller girl called back. "Dad taught me some new tricks." She was closing in on Leshia, who grinned to herself and called out,

"Bet he didn't teach you this!" Quite suddenly the girl fell from view, freefalling towards the ground at maximum velocity, her broom barely staying in her hands. Before she could become an indistinguishable mix of splinters and body bits on the floor though, the girl managed with immense strength to loop back up with tremendous speed. By the time she reached Jaime the girl had stopped midair, her hands clapping slowly in applause, a wry smile on her face; she'd been bested, no doubt about it.

"You've got to teach me that one day," the younger girl chuckled once Leshia had come to a halt at her side grinning smugly.

"What and give up my trademark move? Never."

"Wanna see my trademark move?"

"Yeah, wha…" Quite suddenly Jaime ripped the other girl's hood over her head before she dove down to the ground laughing manically. Leshia, after swaying in Jaime's slipstream steadied herself and ripped her hood back to see the chaser cracking up on the pitch alongside two redheaded figures and an extremely tall one.

"Brilliant," she grumbled fondly, before she dropped down into a dive and landed at their sides. The Weasley cousins Luke and Tom, sons of Bill and Charlie Weasley respectively, were very much like their uncles Fred and George in that they were exceedingly naughty, hilariously funny and weren't what you could call studious by any means. They had grown up together as close as brothers, the first of the Weasley Grandchildren born while the war was still raging. Their parents had kept them together throughout their babyhood and their bond was stronger than most.

Stood now beside the still smirking Jaime Wood the boys seemed to have enjoyed her prank on Leshia as much as the girl at their side had. Only Owen had remained contained, but he did seem terribly amused by the whole thing.

"What, none of you came to my rescue?" Leshia accused fondly the moment she touched down.

"Nah," Luke jeered. "Much more amusing to watch you battle it out with your jumper."

"For your information, it's windy up there," Leshia countered tartly, but her eyes were twinkling. "And for your information…" She wheeled on Jaime with a big grin. "That does _not _count as a trademark move!"

Practice was extremely tiring with Mila insisting the Gryffindors be pushed to the limits. As she was very fond of telling them, they were the champion squad of the school and if they weren't up to scratch with their fitness she would have no qualms about replacing any of the talented flyers. By the time they were given leave to trudge back to the castle in time to catch a late dinner it had started raining. After an unfortunate yet fun bout of messing around Leshia and Owen were given the task of collecting the balls and training cones in while the others raced for cover.

"This sucks!" Leshia grumbled as she dropped her collection of cones, ingeniously stacked on top of her broom, into the large sack. "Mila's turning into a slave driver this year."

"She always _was_ a slave driver," Owen countered amusedly. "From what the lads told me, she puts Lofting in the shade."

"Yeah, Lofting was good actually. He made you work hard when you had to, but for the most part at least training was fun. Nothing against Mila or anything, but she does sort of suck the fun out of playing. Hey when do you turn sixteen?" For a moment Owen stared at the girl blankly.

"What?" he finally laughed. "Why?"

"Well you can play International level when you're sixteen can't you?" The girl was genuinely curious.

"Two weeks time actually."

"Aw, happy birthday for two weeks time!"

"What no present on the day?" Owen teased his friend, reaching out and nudging her with his elbow.

"That depends on how good you are," she teased back. "So will you try out for the next Quidditch World Cup? Mila thinks Luka's going to play and if he can then you totally can. Luka's good, but you're like amazing!"

Owen Gabriel actually blushed and looked away from the short girl at his side, focussing instead on fitting the wet and slippery bludgers into the Gryffindor training supplies box.

"You're forgetting who plays keeper for England Malfoy," he finally replied coyly. Leshia wrinkled her brow, but then it clicked.

"Ooohhhh. Damn, I never thought of that," she exclaimed and clapped her palm against her forehead. "Yeah I take it back. You're good and everything, but your mum, she's like out of this world!" She was teasing him and Owen knew it, but it still felt a little painful to have Leshia, of all people, emasculate him. Yes he was the son of a contemporary quidditch legend – Lucy Gabriel had racked up more clean sheets in her short career than many keepers would their whole lives – but he still didn't like being reminded of his inferior skills.

"Want me to start comparing you to your mum?" he warned, only half fondly.

"Compare all you want, I know I'm a thickhead compared to her," Leshia laughed joyously. Quite suddenly she regretted her careless laughter as without warning she found herself being tickled horrendously. She couldn't put up a fight against such enormous strength compared with her own.

"Owen! That's cheating!" she cried out through her laughter. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. "Use your words, not your…" She couldn't continue as she was degraded into fits of laughter. Eventually Owen let her go, her punishment over.

The two youths stared at each other in the rain, the remnants of smiles on their faces. There was something in the way Owen looked at her that made Leshia pause. Was it fair to lead him on when she wasn't sure how she felt about him? Were her friends right, did he really fancy her again?

XXXXX

Thanks for the reviews I received so far. PLEASE review some more!! I have so many exciting ideas for this one and when I don't get a response to my writing it sort of kills my motivation to continue with this series. I've been turning my thoughts more and more to writings that might actually make me some money (now that I turned the big 23), but I don't want to leave Leshia and her friends' story untold. I feel attached to these characters, more so than I have to any of my other creations and I really want to keep motivated!! Anyway, to cut a long story short, if you like it and you want to see it finished REVIEW!!!!!


	3. Part Three

**Generations: Rebel Inside**

**Part III**

Ginny stared at the little bundle in her arms with a serene smile and a niggling jealousy that would not let her enjoy this moment in peace. There was something so immensely satisfying about holding a young sleeping baby, reassuringly warm and heavy in her arms. It had been an age since her own children had been so young and looking now at Hermione's baby girl she could not help but feel envious.

Her friend was half lying in her chair a cup of tea pressed up against her lips, as though she were trying to infuse some energy into herself by inhaling the fumes. Her heavy eyelids were closed and were it not for the fact that she was engaged in conversation, Ginny would be convinced that the new mother was fast asleep. She didn't of course miss the sleepless nights and the exhaustion post-natal life could inflict.

"She's just so pretty 'Mione," Ginny sighed contentedly while she forced away her niggling jealousy. How could she begrudge her friend such a precious little child when the poor woman was having to cope with the troubles of motherhood both with her new baby and her teenaged daughter?

"She's very pretty," Hermione yawned. "Pity she doesn't get it from my side," she added with a chuckle.

"Oh give over, you're gorgeous and you know it."

"I wasn't fishing for a compliment," Hermione laughed and she opened her eyes to see a fond frown on her friend's face. "I only meant to say that she doesn't look like me."

"Yes she does! Look at this hair, and those eyes they're…"

"Her colourings are mine, that's true, but she looks _just_ like Leshia did when she was this age and there's no denying that girl is all Draco."

"Leshia also looks like you you know," Ginny countered soothingly. "She's got your smile."

"Well since she spends so little time smiling these days I guess you'd never know," her friend sighed. Despite the gravity of the emotions behind these words Ginny giggled and shook her head.

"She has a look about her. I mean you're not wrong when you say she's her father's daughter. There's no doubt and with this little one you can definitely see the resemblance too, but there is just this look about Leshia. She just…well there's no doubting she's yours either."

Hermione, touched by her friend's words, smiled broadly and stretched out her limbs as far as they could go. She had been planning on taking a nap when Ginny arrived unannounced for a cup of tea and an excuse to moddy coddle the baby. She was glad for the company, but felt a little warning might have been nice. She couldn't remember the last time she'd washed her hair and had to admit she felt very scruffy in her jogging bottoms and an old shirt of Draco's. Sat beside the vision of elegance that was Ginny Potter, the new mother felt positively troll-like.

"Thanks Gin."

"The genes of the father must be more powerful that's all. I mean look at _my_ children, they look nothing like me." For a moment Hermione wanted to challenge her on this fact, but before she could open her mouth Ginny shook her head and continued, "It's true, so don't try and argue me on the matter. It's a good thing they're not called Weasley. Whoever heard of a Weasley with jet-black hair?"

"Ron's Hermia has got brown hair."

"Oh it's auburn at best, besides, I think Lavender's taught her how to dye it. Poor Hermia, she really has been moulded to be that woman's double hasn't she?"

"Ginny you can't call her 'that woman'," Hermione laughed. "She's your brother's wife and the mother of his children."

"For now she is. It won't be long before the divorce is final. At least your girls have a look of you in them. My two don't look anything like me, but that doesn't matter. It's what's inside that counts. They're like me on the inside just as much as they're like Harry, so I put up with them." Her joke roused hearty laughter from poor tired Hermione.

"Oh you put up with them do you? How very forgiving of you."

"Well they can't help it I suppose." Little Evie wriggled a little in her sleep silencing Ginny within moments. She turned her beaming smile on the baby and fought the urge to squeeze her tightly. "Oh," she sighed mournfully. "I wish mine were this big again. Do you remember them all? We had a house full of babies whenever we went round mum and dad's."

"Overrun with babies is a better way of describing it," Hermione laughed, her own eyes fondly resting on her daughter. She felt such love for her baby she often felt she would never get tired of watching her. "How you all managed to reproduce at the same time to overwhelm your parents with grandchildren is beyond me."

"Oh it was fun though wasn't it? Never a dull moment."

"It was fun," Hermione replied with a smile. "Do you remember when they started crawling?"

"Oh don't!" Ginny cried jubilantly. "What little terrors they were! All you had to do was turn your back on them for one moment and they were off."

"Just how they managed to egg each other on when they couldn't even talk is beyond me. When they were alone they were never that bad."

"Oh give me a break," the flame-haired woman snorted. "Your Leshia was equally bad at home. How many times did Harry and I have to come over because you and Draco had lost her."

Hermione smiled ruefully and looked around for something to flick at her friend. That Ginny spoke nothing but the truth didn't matter of course. Being Leshia's mother when she was a baby had been a terrifying experience. The girl was so wild-spirited that she had endangered herself at every given opportunity. It would have been more accurate to say that being around cautious Katie seemed to calm Leshia down significantly, but Hermione would never admit this out loud.

"Do you think Evie will be as bad?" Hermione asked suddenly, voicing for the first time a fear she didn't realise she had been harbouring. Her friend's smile grew and after a few moments she shook her head.

"Evie's very different to how Leshia was," she soothed. "If this would have been Leshia she would be awake and screaming for someone's attention."

"They're similar too though Gin," Hermione countered. "She's got a mischievous side to her, I know she does." A great look of sadness washed over Hermione's face as she thought of her wayward daughter now so far away both in the geographical and emotional sense.

"Leshia will come round," Ginny spoke softly, sensing her friend's thoughts.

"Will she? She's a different person Ginny. At least, she is with us." The redhead at her side shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "What? What do you want to say?" Hermione dared her. She could always tell when her friend was holding back.

"Well…it's just." Ginny trailed off unsure whether her words were cruel or not. "It sort of feels like…"

"Ginny please, you can tell me anything."

"It's just that Leshia's only just started acting like you don't exist. Katie's been like that most of her life. She just…well she doesn't express her emotions very well. Not to us anyway. I've had to spend the last decade or so watching my daughter effortlessly bond with her friends and tell them everything she should be confiding in me." Hermione's face crumpled.

"Ginny I'm so sorry, I never meant to…"

"I'm not having a dig at you. I know it must be so distressing to have Leshia suddenly change from being so attached to you both to this surly indifferent monster."

"She's not a monster," Hermione uttered weakly.

"That's the thing 'Mione, she's acting like a monster, you've got to set her straight." Hermione sighed exasperatedly thinking her friend had taken a leaf out of Draco's book. Why was she the only one who seemed to understand Leshia's reaction to Evie and subsequent behaviour?

"Leshia isn't Katie Ginny. She doesn't respond to orders. If anyone tells her what to do she'll always try her hardest to do the exact opposite. She always has!" Ginny's face had become slightly hard.

"What are you implying about my daughter?"

"I don't mean it like that!" Hermione covered quickly, her expression apologetic. "I'm just saying she's not a Malfoy. She doesn't have the world's most stubborn man as her father. As much as I love my husband, you have to admit he has a unique personality that when manifested in a teenaged girl is quite difficult to work around."

Quite suddenly Ginny laughed gaily.

"Very diplomatically put," she managed through her laughter. Hermione grinned and shook her head.

"Leshia is many things," she continued. "She's full of surprises, so many extremes all in one."

"Well it must be difficult finding the balance between Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy." Hermione nodded fervently.

"Well exactly, Draco and I work so well because we compliment each other exactly. We have things in common of course otherwise we'd never have stuck together, but I just love it that he's so different to me. Now imagine our poor children, what if they're in constant turmoil trying to deal with two very different sides of their personalities?"

"This one's hardly in turmoil is she?" Ginny countered, looking down at the sleeping baby in her arms.

"No, but maybe one day she will."

"Hermione you can't be held accountable for the fact that your teenaged daughter is being exactly that: a teenager! She's not in turmoil, she is unique and when she's grown up a bit she'll calm down a bit. I know you, you're more proud of that girl than anything you've ever done. Leshia knows she's loved, she's just acting like a fourteen-year-old." Hermione sighed and reached out for her baby. Happy to oblige Ginny gently handed the warm little bundle over to the new mother.

"Sometimes I have to agree with Draco," Hermione said softly and after pulling her daughter close to her chest and kissing the soft downy curls atop her head she continued, "Sometimes I don't ever want her to grow up."

XXX

Leshia was wet and bedraggled when she and Owen finally made it back to the common room. They had happily deposited the quidditch training supplies in the storage shed down by the pitch with a cheerful banter that didn't reflect the tense moment that had passed between them on the quidditch pitch. At the Fat Lady the friends parted, the shy smile passing between them the only indication that something out of the ordinary had happened that afternoon.

Katie, Rachel and the lads were at their usual table adjoining the window box that the redhead had currently commandeered with a mountain of Runes notes and books. After quickly rushing upstairs to change into some drier clothes Leshia grabbed her own Runes work and made herself comfortable at the table beside her raven-haired friend. For the most part, her friends were happy to see her.

"What's the matter with you?" Leshia asked Katie, when the girl had barely looked up at her greeting.

"Oh don't get her start…" Rachel began quickly, but the bespectacled girl looked up, her expression fierce, before she burst into a grumble she had evidently been spouting all afternoon,

"I don't see why we didn't do the ballroom dancing in PE today. I've been looking forward to it _all_ summer. I mean for once we were going to do something that didn't revolve around flying, kicking, running, throwing, catching or chasing and what do they do? They give us some stupid fitness test instead." Leshia glanced to the redhead in the window who rolled her eyes as if to indicate it was Leshia's own fault for asking.

"Well we'll probably do ballroom dancing next week," the blonde girl finally suggested when it looked like Katie had said her peace.

"Oh you think so do you Leshia?" The girl seemed prepared for this response. "Why didn't Madam Hooch tell us then?"

"If you feel so strongly about it then maybe you should have asked her don't you think?" Leshia countered, not one to shy away from speaking frankly about her feelings. Katie narrowed her eyes at her friend.

"All Madam Hooch cares about is quidditch at the end of the day. She doesn't have time for those of us who don't care for the sport."

"Oh that's a lie, she's alright Madam Hooch. She wouldn't just flat out ignore you if you asked her a question," Leshia snorted.

"Well maybe not coming from Hogwarts' very own quidditch legend." Her tone hadn't quite been spiteful, but everybody sensed the sarcasm and cast the girl admonishing glares.

"Katie get over it, there's no point in getting worked up about PE. I could understand if you were getting upset about this." Leshia indicated her notes piled up in front of her on the desk. "Personally I want to cry every time someone mentions the word 'Rune'."

Katie let the matter drop, though her bad mood kept her from enjoying what was left of the day with her friends. Her bad moods were legendary and as such the others tried to avoid involving her in the conversation as much as they could. Thankfully after a good night's sleep the raven-haired girl was back to rights and as she and the others made their way down to breakfast she apologised for flying off the handle the day before. Leshia and Rachel were more than understanding and happily teased their friend about her temperamental moods for the rest of the morning.

By the time they reached Greenhouse Two, where the fourth year Herbology lessons were being held this term, and lined up alongside it with their Ravenclaw counterparts Katie had had enough and warned the girls that if they carried on their jeering much longer she would go back on her word and be moody with them for the rest of the week. Seeing this as no empty threat a sniggering Rachel and Leshia held their tongues and kept quiet until they were given entrance into the overgrown greenhouse.

The fourth years had already discovered in their first Herbology lesson of the week that this particular greenhouse housed a collection of several mean looking plants. Parys especially had become intimately acquainted with one of them when he had leaned back a little too far only to find his head suddenly enveloped by stinging tentacles. Professor Sprout hadn't seemed perturbed by this and quickly set the plant to rights with a flick of her wand, but it was a lesson Parys and many of the others wouldn't soon forget.

"Good morning fourth years," the portly Professor announced to the class fondly once they had taken their places at the stools surrounding the enormous potting tray in the centre of the room. "You're all in luck! I hadn't intended to start this part of the course in your second lesson back, but then again, I had very little hope that I would be able to procure the shipment full stop."

Leshia and Rachel glanced to one another ominously while at their side Katie sat up straight, a sheet of fresh parchment leaning on her lap and her quill ready to start taking notes. A 'shipment' that was hard to come by certainly didn't bode well for the fourth years class.

"Can anyone tell me," Professor Sprout was continuing. "What three plants make up McCooley's list of most endangered species?" Unsurprisingly Katie's hand shot into the air. What was perhaps a little more unexpected, was that after a moment Leshia's hand slowly joined it. "Miss Malfoy?"

Leshia fought the urge to roll her eyes at Professor Sprout's visible surprise at her volunteering to answer a difficult question. She had always got Os in Herbology, so why should it seem surprising that she knew the answer? Just because her usual attitude towards Herbology found her doodling through most of the lessons and not listening to a word the teacher said didn't mean she didn't know things.

"Isn't the Thorncrested Hereford Root one of them?" the girl spoke a little unsurely. Sprout smiled broadly.

"Excellent Miss Malfoy," the teacher applauded cheerfully. "Five points to Gryffindor. Miss Potter?" Katie's hand still hung in the air, but she was now staring at Leshia with a furrowed brow, as though she was in disbelief at what had just happened. "Miss Potter?"

"Oh right, sorry, um the Vetican Poleathic Willow? The Whomping Willow is an example of this sort of tree."

"Well done Miss Potter, another five housepoints to Gryffindor. Who now can tell us of the last plant in McCooley's three?" Again Katie lifted her hand to which Sprout bid her speak by a nod of her head.

"Paykoi miss," Katie replied simply. "The only plant with real intelligence and the ability to move about. They used to be mistaken for animals mimicking plants. They're very very rare."

"Yes, very good Miss Potter. Take another five housepoints," the jovial teacher replied. "You are right in saying they are the rarest of McCooley's three, but fortunately for us, they are not so rare to escape my careful tracking them down. Fourth years! In pairs you will be rearing a Payki each through the germination process till they reach adolescence, at which stage your specimens will be taken over by the fifth years. This is a very rare opportunity and I will not abide with any nonsense. Each of these seeds must be reared with the ultimate care and attention. Today we will spend the first part of the lesson learning in depth about the potting requirements of Paykoi, as you will see each seed requires slightly different requirements, which we will endeavour to discover for your individual projects in the second part of the lesson."

Katie seemed exceedingly excited about this lesson and during the first half whenever Leshia or Rachel attempted to drift off or stop paying attention she bossily forced them to attend to their teacher once more. Seeing as the raven-haired girl was sat between the other two, this gave them very little choice but to do as she wished. All in all by the end of the theory part of the lesson Leshia very much wanted to move across the potting tray to where Rodeo and Parys had hardly paid attention throughout the boring lecture.

"Now then, I have already assigned pairs," Professor Sprout announced and before the youngsters could utter a communal groan the teacher spun the blackboard round at the front of the class. Leshia wrinkled her brow when she saw she had been put together with Samuel Thomas, a Gryffindor boy who she had never really spoken to, but knew to be a bit of an idiot from Rodeo and Parys' descriptions of the boy. She felt even more dismayed when she saw her friends' fortuitous matches. Rachel had been paired with Parys and Katie with Rodeo. It didn't seem particularly fair to the blonde girl, but she didn't get a chance to complain as Professor Sprout was instructing the youngsters join their partner so that she might give out the seeds.

Samuel, a bespectacled sandy haired weedy boy unfortunately afflicted with a terrible case of acne was smiling shyly at Leshia, who beckoned the boy over with a brisk hand movement. With Katie and Parys swapping seats this at least ensured that Leshia got to sit beside Rachel and Parys instead of moving across the potting tray to the boy's territory. After a few moments he made his way over.

"Hi Leshia," he uttered. The girl smiled ruefully, but nodded all the same. She didn't want to be cruel to her new partner, even if he did look like the school's biggest swot.

"Hi Sam. Is it okay if I call you Sam?" Quickly her partner nodded.

"I'd love it!" The boy took the stool at Leshia's side while she glanced to her friends at her side with drooped shoulders to show her annoyance at this arrangement. Rachel was sniggering into her hands, but Parys at Leshia's side wrapped an arm about her shoulders and shook her playfully to show his sympathy. Across the potting tray Katie was watching her partner with doe eyes, while he in turn was watching Samuel Thomas calculatingly.

"Right then class, would one member from each group come and collect their Payki," professor Sprout called to the class as she emerged from the storage closet with a trolley full of wooden boxes. Leshia glanced to her partner.

"Do you want to or…" she began slowly.

"Yeah I can get it! No problem." Instantly Sam was on his feet and darting across the greenhouse as though someone had set off a firecracker under his stool.

"Guys! He's weird!" Leshia quickly groaned to her friends. Parys and Rachel seemed overcome with mirth for a moment.

"That's because he fancies the pants off you Leesh!" Rachel managed through her laughter. Leshia glowered at her best friend fondly.

"Oh you think so do you?"

"You know, amazingly, Weasley's right for once," Parys now spoke up amusedly, quickly catching Rachel's elbow as it flew towards his ribs. "That guy's always asking us about you. It was so funny, last year when you and Owen had that snog up on the balcony…"

"Parys!" Leshia hissed, but the boy just spoke over her,

"He was there trying to get Rodes to go beat the guy up with him."

"Seriously?" Leshia asked worriedly. Parys grinned.

"Don't worry Leesh, the guy's all talk. He's harmless. I think he was just trying to get in with Rodes. I mean look at the guy, does he look like he can pack a punch?" Sam was now making his way over again with a box in his hands.

"Hadn't one of you better go and get your seed?" Leshia told her friends amusedly.

"Oh yeah," Rachel exclaimed and she looked to Parys with one eyebrow raised; which of them was going to have to get off their stool and go and get the seed? "Shotgun not it!" she quickly cried. Parys wrinkled his brow.

"You can't shotgun something like this…"

"Yeah you can!" the girls either side of him retorted firmly.

"Shotgun rules apply to everything Parys," Leshia informed the boy. "You've got siblings, you should know." Seeing he would lose this battle if he complained and as he was precariously positioned between the two feisty girls Parys climbed to his feet and wandered off. He was the last to collect a seed and as he retook his stool Professor Sprout instructed the youngsters to carefully open their boxes. Leshia took control and pulled back the lid to see a peculiar grooved seed that was surely as big as her head.

"Are they meant to be this big?" the girl asked the group at large.

"It looks more like an egg than a seed," Rachel agreed.

"A keen observation Miss Weasley," the teacher spoke up with a proud smile; she really was very pleased with herself for securing this practical for her fourth years. "They resemble eggs both in appearance and in function. Inside is a germinating seedling somewhat in the shape of a human baby. We know very little about the stages of development of the foetal Payki, as they are so endangered herbologists have been forbidden from interrupting with their life cycles. Now then, if everybody is ready, we will start our investigations to see what sort of potting environment our seedlings prefer."

Working out the exact recipe of minerals, nutrients, water and brandy that the young seedlings preferred was meticulous work and after only a few minutes Leshia was bored. Where her friends were completing this task as a backdrop to enthusiastic conversations, she and Samuel worked in relative silence. The boy seemed too shy to speak and Leshia was tired of asking him questions and inviting him into a conversation. She spent a lot of her time watching her peers and felt a little distressed at the way in which Katie was swanning around her partner.

The last thing anybody needed was for the raven-haired girl to start fancying Rodeo again. Their last break up had nearly torn apart the trio's friendship and Leshia wasn't sure if they could survive another incident. Katie held grudges and even if Leshia hadn't actually done anything to incur the girl's wrath this still didn't prevent all hell from breaking loose when Katie felt wronged.

More worryingly perhaps, were the sharp pangs of jealousy Leshia felt whenever Katie touched the boy. She'd had these feelings before and worried that they were returning. Back then things had been far too complicated and Leshia would sooner take a vow of romance abstinence than enter into a love triangle like that one again.

"Parys! Sparky is not an alcoholic! You're giving her far too much brandy." Rachel's loud complaint dragged Leshia from her reverie and with a smile she glanced round to see her friends enjoying themselves.

"Sparky? Rach I told you we're not calling _him_ Sparky. His name is Terminator!" the boy countered while pouring more and more brandy into the testing soil. Rachel quickly stayed his hand.

"What sort of a name is Terminator for a girl?" the girl grumbled fondly.

"Well for starters it's a boy and secondly Terminator is a wicked name, it's this muggle robot action hero."

"Well there you go, we're not naming her after a muggle," Rachel countered happily.

"No you don't get it, the Terminator wasn't actually a real muggle, he was this…"

"Still don't care we're calling her Sparky." By now Leshia couldn't contain her laughter and when they realised their conversation had become the source of their friend's mocking amusement Rachel and Parys straightened up.

"You guys are going to scar your Payki before it's even born," the blonde girl laughed. Parys grinned and wrapped an arm around Rachel's shoulders.

"Leshia with this one for a mother, that thing doesn't stand a chance."

"Hey!" Rachel cried out jubilantly, before she picked up a handful of soil and unceremoniously stuffed it down the back of Parys' shirt. The boy went rigid as he felt the soil trickling down his back while Leshia's hands flew to her mouth half in shock half in complete and utter joy.

"I can't believe you just did that," he managed, an enormous smile growing on his face. "Big mistake Weasley."

"What's going on over there?" Professor Sprout's strict call came. All three teenagers turned to the teacher with feigned innocent expressions, before they all shook their heads simultaneously.

"Nothing Professor," Parys spoke on behalf of the group.

"Have you figured out what conditions your Payki favours yet?"

"No miss, not yet," Rachel now responded soberly.

"Well you've only got ten minutes, I suggest you stop chatting and try a little harder. If you don't finish this by the end of the lesson you'll have to come back during break."

With this added incentive every group managed to work out their specimen's ideal potting environment. Before they could flee the greenhouse for their next lesson the youngsters were lumbered with homework to be completed for their lesson the next day. Now they knew the conditions the Payki preferred they were to research what sort of personality the seedling was going to exhibit once it had sprouted; a task that would no doubt require an evening down in the library.

Sam was eager to arrange a time with Leshia as they walked back towards the castle, but she avoided his keen pestering saying they'd work something out later in the common room. He was difficult to get rid of, but eventually when Leshia and her friends needed to leave the boy to ascend Professor Trelawny's tower to get to divination and he needed to get to his Arithmancy classroom they parted ways. Leshia was glad to see the back of him.

"I can't believe how eager that boy is," the girl groaned.

"We could have a word with him if you like?" Rodeo suggested keenly. Leshia sniggered and shook her head.

"It's okay Rodes, I don't need help dealing with Samuel Thomas. I just have to put him off," the girl grumbled.

"Maybe you could eat something really spicy at dinner so that when you have to work with him he'll think you have really horrid breath and go off you?" Rachel suggested cheerily.

"So that's what you've been doing all these years," Parys suddenly exclaimed sounding enlightened. "You've been trying to put me off! I always wondered why you…" The rest of his jeer was swallowed up by a playful yelp as Rachel tackled the boy. They chased each other all the way to the top leaving their friends laughing in their wake. The closer they got to the classroom the more sluggish Katie became. This was always the way; out of all their lessons Divination was the only one the raven-haired girl couldn't abide and wished she hadn't taken.

Yes, she disapproved of the wishy-washy nature of it all, but her dislike of Trelawny's lessons was far more deeply rooted in the fact that the mad old woman always foretold miserable events in her future. It was as though she had simply transferred her fear of Harry Potter's turbulent existence onto his much more sensible daughter, who didn't appreciate the grim predictions one bit.

"Come on Katie, there's no running from her now," Leshia stated cheerfully and started dragging her friend along by the arm.

"Oh why couldn't I have done Arithmancy instead of this nonsense?" Katie groaned.

"Because Arithmancy would have been really really boring and besides, then you would have been alone with the world's biggest swot…" Leshia paused for a moment and wrinkled her brow. "Actually, you wouldn't have minded that. Never mind, you're stuck now so come on!"

By the time the three youngsters joined their panting friends at the top of the tower where the hatch leading into Trelawny's classroom had been lowered. One by one their classmates were ascending into the chintzy room that made their heads swim. Damian Allseyer was near the front of the queue and before he could ascend he and Leshia locked their eyes together in a glower not lacking in hostilities.

"Leesh what name do you think is best?" Rachel spoke loudly, wanting to distract her blonde friend from the Slytherin snake up ahead. "Fart or Burp?" Along with Katie and Rodeo Leshia dissolved into laughter. Rachel and Parys however, seemed quite serious.

"What you don't like either of them?" Parys chuckled. By now they had got to the steps and clambered up one by one, instantly feeling sobered by the thick waft of incense that pummelled their senses. Leshia climbed up last and sat down her usual armchair with Rachel and Katie either side of her. Professor Trelawney was fantastically bizarre as usual and currently was distracted by telling Ravenclaw's Gracie Wallice that she ought to beware of rogue umbrellas. After the youngster had assured the teacher she would always be on the look out flying brollies Trelawney turned to scan the classroom with her usual fearful gaze. Instantly she singled out Katie, Leshia and Rachel's table.

"Here we go," Katie uttered under her breath to her friends, who grinned conspiratorially to one another; they quite enjoyed seeing their raven-haired friend do battle with the peculiar teacher. Trelawney shuffled over slowly, her hand slowly rising up to point in their direction.

"I see a shadow on you child," the woman spoke shakily. Either she had had one too many herbal tees Leshia thought to herself, or she was definitely overdoing the dramatics this year. Slowly the teacher approached and as she did so to everyone's surprise her unfocusing gaze fell on Leshia, not Katie.

"Me Professor?" Leshia asked unsurely. Trelawney ignored the girl's confusion and shuffled even closer, her finger pointed squarely at the blonde girl. Never before had she predicted any of the hardships in Leshia's life, so this turn of events was unsettling to say the least.

"A shadow lies on you. A shadow you have carried with you a long time. I see you alone…I see you all alone in despair. You must tread carefully or you will have nothing left. A shadow lies on you."

The teacher's wide frightened eyes met with Leshia's narrowed ones and for a moment they gazed at one another, before Trelawney finally backed away and looked to the class, visibly shaken.

"Good afternoon fourth years," she called out. Briefly the teacher glanced at Leshia fearfully before she spoke again, "I trust you have all returned with open minds to better read the mysteries the future has in store for us all."

Leshia remained shaken and though her friends assured her that their teacher was a nutcase and that none of her predictions about Katie had ever come true, the blonde girl could not put the woman's words out of her head. Damian Allseyer's mirth across the classroom only furthered Leshia's bad mood and by the time they were released for lunch she stormed ahead with her friends hurrying after her.

Only Rachel hung back, her brow furrowed deeply in thought. The teacher's prediction of Leshia ending up alone coincided with a terrible gut feeling she already had about her best friend being banned from the exchange trip. What if Trelawney's prediction referred to everyone else being selected for the trip leaving Leshia with no allies to fight off another attack by Allseyer and his gang? It took the red-haired girl only a few moments to make up her mind about what had to be done.

XXX

Leshia's head lolled tiredly, her eyes half open. A raucous lunch and the boredom of History of Magic had pushed Trelawney's warning from her mind for now. Professor Binns had serenaded most of the class to sleep with his monotonous drone about witch hunting in the fourteenth century. It was a mark of just how boring the age-old ghost had become that even such a gory fascinating subject could send the teenagers to sleep. Leshia had managed to hold on to consciousness throughout most of the lesson, but her grip was slipping. Thankfully the bell went releasing the fourth years into the corridor beyond.

"I didn't think it was possible, but he's even more boring than he was last year," Leshia yawned as they headed towards their Muggle Studies classroom.

"Maybe there's no end to his powers," Rodeo suggested. "He's a secret weapon. I bet he could bore someone to death."

"Hey! Maybe we should set him loose on Allseyer!" Leshia suggested cheerfully, her eyes narrowing as in the distance Damian Allseyer and his friends were making the same walk between classrooms as Leshia and hers.

"Leshia don't say stuff like that," Katie admonished. "Prove that you're better than he is."

"Um!" The others turned in surprise to see Rachel hovering behind them, a frozen expression on her face.

"Rach what's wrong?" Leshia asked sounding both concerned and amused.

"I need the loo!" the redhead announced strangely. While the boys sniggered Leshia grinned at Katie about this sudden change in their friend.

"Well go on then, we'll meet you down there," Katie told the girl. With their permission Rachel turned around and darted off leaving her four friends staring after her in amusement.

"Rachel's weird," Parys finally stated cheerfully, before he and Rodeo carried on up the corridor. Katie and Leshia took a little longer to follow them.

"What do you think was wrong with Rach?" Leshia asked quietly so that the boys ahead wouldn't hear their conversation. She didn't want them to think she was in fact a little bit concerned by Rachel's peculiar behaviour. The girl had seemed out of sorts since Divination.

"I'm not sure," Katie replied with a shrug. "She keeps her feelings close to her chest." Leshia frowned, wanting to contradict the raven-haired girl's judgment of her cousin, but she couldn't fault it; Rachel _did_ keep her feelings well hidden, even from Leshia.

"Did she say anything to you at lunch while I was…um…"

"Sulking?" Katie suggested with a smile. Leshia feigned a glare at the bespectacled-girl.

"I wasn't sulking. Trelawney just freaks me out that's all."

"Oh come on, she's never right is she? She's been foretelling my doom for a year now and I'm still standing aren't I?"

"Yeah I know. I just…well she seemed so scared didn't she? And normally when she's rattling off her big ideas about you falling down stairs and getting hit by comets and stuff like that she sounds almost bored as she's saying it. You know what I mean? Like it's your run of the mill garden variety sort of death prediction, but today she seemed terrified by what she was saying."

"Oh thanks," Katie sniggered.

"Well you know what I mean," Leshia complained fondly.

"No not really."

"Anyway we're completely missing the point here," the blonde girl continued. "Did she say anything at lunch?"

"Nothing important, actually, nothing much now I come to think of it. She was in a sulk as well," Katie remarked with a furrowed brow. "I wonder what was wrong with her." Up ahead the two boys burst into laughter and Katie's eyes turned positively glassy when her eyes fell on Rodeo; an action that set alarm bells ringing in Leshia's head.

"Um Katie?" the girl spoke worriedly. "Do you fancy Rodeo again?" Quite suddenly the raven-haired girl spun around to stare at Leshia in surprise.

"After what he did to me? Never!" she hissed indignantly.

"Well I'm sorry, it's just…well…" Leshia fell silent wondering if perhaps without Katie's guidance on what was tactful and what was plain insulting she would continuously stick her foot in her mouth. As they reached the muggle studies classroom their friends ahead were already filing inside, so Leshia reached out and elbowed her friend slightly in the arm.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," she apologised humbly. The taller girl quickly nodded.

"It's fine." She wore a genuine smile and even though she sounded slightly frosty, Leshia knew she hadn't really offended her friend. The two girls soon reached the door where they peered over their shoulders the way they had come.

"Should we wait for Rachel?" Leshia suggested.

"Not much point, she knows the way," Katie countered and flounced inside. The smaller girl stayed a moment longer, her brow furrowed in worry, before she too ambled inside and took her usual seat. Her friend was already involved in an animated conversation with the boys, but Leshia just couldn't relax. The minutes were ticking by and still no Rachel.

"Maybe I'd better go and find…" the blonde girl began as she rose to her feet, but at this point Professor Lewis rose to his own at the front of the class.

"Sit down please Miss Malfoy, we're going to start."

"But sir I was just going to find Rachel," Leshia countered. The teacher with the exceedingly kindly face frowned for a moment.

"Is she lost?"

"Well no, she's on her way, but…"

"Then please sit down, I'm sure she'll be here in a moment." Leshia obliged and dropped down into her chair with a thump. Her friends were frowning at her in confusion and indeed if it were physically possible, Leshia would have joined them. She couldn't explain her unease, aside from the fact that Trelawney's warning had triggered in her a general nervousness.

The minutes ticked by as Professor Lewis tried to explain the Muggle life cycle to the fourth years, a topic that would last the whole curricular year. Leshia didn't really listen to a word he was saying and watched the clock at the front of the classroom instead. Ten minutes had crept by and whereas Katie seemed oblivious to Rachel's continued absence, so engrossed was she by her notes, Leshia couldn't help but wonder what had happened to her best friend.

Finally, nearly fifteen minutes after the lesson had begun, there was a lazy knock at the door. After Lewis had bid the knocker enter Rachel appeared nonchalantly, as though there was nothing peculiar about her late appearance.

"Miss Weasley," Professor Lewis reproached the girl sternly. "You are nearly fifteen minutes late. Where have you been?" For a moment Rachel glanced to her friends, who were all wearing matching confused expressions, before she looked back to the teacher, shoved her hands deep in her pockets and shrugged.

"Just lost track of time I guess."

"You lost track of time?" Rachel shrugged again. "Very well, detention; my office after dinner. Now go and sit down." The red-haired girl quickly bolted from his side with a relieved expression and sat down in her usual seat between her best friends. They were both staring at her, one in complete incredulity, the other in anger. Just what had possessed their friend Leshia and Katie didn't get a chance to pry out of her however, as Lewis worked them hard throughout the hour lesson. Finally when the bell went giving the pupils of Hogwarts leave after another day's lessons Katie practically frogmarched Rachel out into the corridor with Leshia having to run to catch up with them.

"What do you think you're playing at?" Katie demanded crossly when they reached the busy corridor. For a moment Rachel glanced to Leshia with a significant expression, before she turned back to her cousin defiantly.

"I don't care what you think about Trelawney, she's right! Leshia shouldn't be alone, not with Tripper and Lucius and Allseyer and God knows who else out to get her," the girl spoke hotly. Instantly Leshia's expression turned from incredulous to crumpled, as she felt truly touched by her friend's words.

"You did this to get out of the exchange trip?" Katie demanded in disbelief, to which her cousin nodded firmly.

"And I'd do it again." Katie looked from one friend to the next feeling an intense burst of isolation, before quite suddenly she stormed from their side into the busy traffic.

"Rach…I…" Leshia didn't know what to say.

"Like I wanted to go on that trip without you anyway," the flame-haired girl suddenly spoke with a cheerful smile. "When do you think she'll start talking to me again?" Her friend grinned happily.

"Christmas. And that's if you're lucky."

XXX

That the week had gone terrifically slowly was the general consensus of the fourth years and over of Hogwarts, but finally Friday dinner arrived meaning it was time for the lottery to take place. Katie still refused to speak to Rachel and Leshia had to tread very carefully, as the slightest wrong move was being used as an excuse to berate her. The girls tried their best to pacify their raven-haired friend throughout dinner, but eventually gave up and succumbed to the enthusiastic conversation being held by their peers.

"The odds are pretty good you know," Tom Weasley was saying enthusiastically.

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked curiously.

"Well we managed to get Hagrid to tell us how many people have been kicked off the list already and he says it's about a quarter of them. So that means there's like a one in three chance of getting chosen to go."

"Around thirty people got detention in just one week?" Leshia asked with a wrinkled brow. "That's not normal is it?"

"Yeah well Tripper was never around before either was he?" Luke chuckled at his cousin's side. "The man's gone overboard giving out detentions whenever he can. He's on a major power trip!"

"So how come you two have managed to stay out of trouble?" Rachel sniggered. "You're in detention every week!"

"What's a week's exceptional behaviour compared with a chance to go on the trip of a lifetime?"

Rachel and Leshia glanced to one another grimly, both cursing Silas Tripper for ensuring they weren't in with a chance to go. Aside from the odd family holiday to the continent, they had never left the country, especially not independently of their parents. It would have been amazing to be chosen. Despite themselves the girls brooded throughout the remainder of dinner and felt positively grim when Professor Dumbledore rose to his feet at the top table. The chattering pupils instantly fell silent to hear what the headmaster had to say.

"Pupils! It is that time at last, we are going to select those lucky thirty pupils who will be taking part in the international exchange trip between magical schools," the old wizard called over the hall with surprising resonance. As though on a silent command an enormous golden device appeared on the table in front of the headmaster. A large glass ball sat at the centre of the machine revealed a number of what looked to be fluttering birds inside of it. On closer inspection the pupils at the front of the hall could see that the strange flapping things were not quite alive, but instead were made of paper. Katie, who had been sitting at Rachel's side seized up in anticipation at the sight of the device.

"After your name has been called out I request that you come and collect an information packet from Professor McGonagall," the headmaster was continuing. "You will be expected to read all the information it contains in preparation for your first meeting tomorrow evening. We have so little time before our guests arrive, so I regret to inform those who get chosen that this coming week will be quite riddled with meetings."

"Agh, that sounds like more work," Luke uttered under his breath to the Gryffindors. "I thought this was supposed to be fun."

"I can assure you," Dumbledore continued, turning his twinkling eyes on the mid section of the Gryffindor table. "That these efforts will soon be forgotten by the excitement this experience will offer. Very well, without further ado, let us begin the boys' draw."

As one all eyes in the room fell on the golden device as the fluttering notes inside the glass ball sped up into a flurry of winged activity. Several people leaned forward as Dumbledore lowered his hand slowly into the hive and easily picked a fluttering note from the mass. At his touch the piece of paper straightened out in his hand. For a moment the headmaster glanced at the name in his hand, before he turned his half-moon spectacles on the table furthest from the Gryffindors.

"Dylan Sylverstone." To an appreciative roar from the Slytherin house a tall wiry boy climbed to his feet and approached the top table, where he shook Professor McGonagall's hand and took the brown paper packet she was holding out to him. As soon as the boy had started back to his seat all eyes returned to Dumbledore. The age-old wizard already held the next note in his hand. With so many names to get through it was no surprise he was trying to hurry things along.

"Jonah Tristan." Leshia and her friends joined in with the Gryffindor cheer as one of their seventh years climbed to his feet to collect his packet. Despite all odds his identical brother Joshua followed him moments later.

"What are the odds?" Luke grumbled under his breath, no longer cheering jubilantly along with the house. "Not much chance of the both of us getting picked now mate."

"It's not like Dumbledore would…" Leshia tried to tell the boys, but as she spoke the headmaster himself spoke aloud the next name and it was one that silenced the girl and all those around her,

"Parys Jackson." In surprise the tall boy sitting opposite Leshia climbed to his feet while his house applauded him. Only his closest friends found it difficult to join in the cheers. It had not struck them till this very moment that whoever was chosen for this trip would be gone for nearly three months. It was only at this moment that the fourth years felt the loss such a separation was going to afflict.

As Parys retook his seat at the table, the brown package clutched in his hands he glanced to his best friend and finally shrugged his shoulders.

"What are the odds?" he managed sounding a little amused.

"One in three, weren't you listening?" his friend chuckled and finally managed to push away his own shock to clap the boy on the back. "It's wicked mate! Congratulations!" Following the boy's lead the girls quickly congratulated their friend fondly and exuberantly, making up for their socked reactions moments earlier. The friends had missed Hufflepuff's Richard Everett and Ravenclaw's David Beckett being called up in the excitement of Parys' good fortune, but the next name Dumbledore read aloud stood little chance of being ignored,

"Julius Black." Leshia's head popped up as though she were a jack-in-the-box.

"How did…" The girl trailed off in anger as she watched the Slytherin enigma climb to his feet on the opposite side of the great hall. Just how the boy had managed to get himself back on the list was a complete and utter mystery to Leshia and her friends, and whereas they were free to wonder at this free of prejudice, the blonde girl was far too angry to contemplate the ins and outs of the situation; she only felt bitter rage at his worming his way onto the list and her failure to do the same.

"It's not fair Leesh," Rachel tried to pacify her friend.

"You're bloody right it's not. The little weasel!"

Leshia was not to be consoled. Not even Luke and Tom's miraculous inclusion onto the list brought a smile to the girl's face. She was far too scorned to take pleasure in her friends' triumphs.

"And the last young man to join those fourteen I have already read out will be…" Everyone waited with baited breath as Dumbledore unfurled the paper note in his hand. He stared at it for a while before he lifted his eyes and scanned every single table before he found the one he had been looking for,

"Damian Allseyer." A cumulative groan rose up from the thirty or so boys who had not been chosen to go on the trip while across the hall the Slytherins were celebrating and they had a reason to. Both Ravenclaw and Slytherin had an unusually high percentage of boys going on the trip, which also meant they would have an unusually high number of guests inaugurated into their houses at the expense of the others.

The fourth years over on Gryffindor table had looked to Leshia at the announcement of the final name expecting her mood to plummet even lower, but to their surprise she suddenly brightened up with a big smile.

"Damian Allseyer _and _Julius Black gone for a term?" she told the others to settle their confusion. "I couldn't have wished for anything better even if I tried!"

Not quite believing this was the extent of Leshia's feelings on the matter, the others were happy that she was at least able to let the matter drop for now. The girls' draw proved to be just as tense as the boys'. Again several sibling pairs were being chosen and with every name that was called out Katie grew a little tenser until eventually she was sat as straight as a board, her knuckles white from gripping the edge of the table to hard.

"Don't worry Katie, there's loads left," Leshia lied in an attempt to console the girl as Dumbledore lifted another note from the bird notes.

"Valerie Beckett." Leshia stiffened slightly at the girl's name. In her third year she and this girl had come to blows on more than one occasion. They were not what could be called the best of friends and whereas most of Leshia's rivalries were due to worthy causes, her issue with Valerie was different; they had fought over a boy, though be it unwittingly on Leshia's part.

"This only gets better and better," the blonde girl uttered under her breath. Rachel sniggered and elbowed her friend in the ribs.

"If only Tripper was going with them right?" the redhead chuckled. Leshia grinned.

"If only he was," she sighed wistfully. Valerie Beckett retook her seat and all eyes turned again on Dumbledore as he picked another note from the glass ball. For a moment his eyes lifted to the Gryffindor table before he spoke,

"Katie Potter."

Rachel could have sworn she heard a squeak emanate from her cousin before the table erupted into cheers. This time the friends were ready for the emotions of being left behind and easily bested them in order to cheer for their friend; Katie had wanted this very badly. Almost shakily the raven-haired girl approached Professor McGonagall to collect her package. Parys catcalled and the girls hooted.

Once the girl had retaken her seat again she turned watery eyes on her friends and simply shook her head. She had no words.

"You're a muppet you know that?" Rachel chuckled and quickly embraced her cousin. "And you're going to have an amazing time!" After they had separated Leshia practically climbed over Rachel to hug the bespectacled girl in congratulations.

"She's right, out of all of us you're the only one that might actually learn something on this trip too. I mean we'd probably just make some international enemies or something like that."

"Hey! Speak for yourself," Rachel complained happily.

"Oh come on, with your powers to annoy the hell out of everyone around you? You wouldn't stand a chance Rach," Leshia laughed with a big grin, before she quickly ruffled her best friend's hair. "You're actually quite lucky we put up with you."

"Right that does it!" Rachel suddenly erupted happily before she lunged at Leshia in a tickling frenzy. Their play fight was cut short by Dumbledore loudly calling out the last lucky girl to be included on the trip, issuing the tumbling Gryffindor girls a fond look of warning. They managed to cheer along with the rest of the house, though they weren't quite sure who had been picked. When Leshia saw her quidditch captain Mila climb to her feet however, she frowned.

"Mila's going?" she asked worriedly and then quickly counted on her fingers. "And Luke and Tom…_and_ Joss! Crap!" The others stared at her in slight confusion.

"What are you on about?" Rodeo spoke for the group.

"Second term we play Slytherin and with all them lot gone that just leaves me, Owen and Jaime. What the hell are we going to do? We can't play them with just the three of us." The others shrugged, evidently not finding this as big a concern as Leshia did.

After Mila had retaken her seat the pupils of Hogwarts were finally excused for the night. Katie and Parys were desperate to get back to the common room to tear open their paper packages, so they rushed ahead with Rodeo jogging to catch up. Leshia and Rachel took a much more leisurely approach and strolled out of the great hall towards the grand staircase. The last thing they had been expecting was an ambush.

"Bloodtraitor!" Leshia spun around to find Damian Allseyer and his cronies emerging from behind one of the enormous pillars that supported the ceiling high above.

"Allseyer. What do you want?"

"To rub it in of course!"

"You think I'd want to go on that trip if you're going on it?" the blonde girl hissed, her brow lowered over icy eyes. Allseyer smiled cruelly.

"Everyone can see how much you want to get away from the bloodtraitor father of yours so yeah, I think you wish you were going on this trip. Not surprising either, if my father had chosen to once again pollute his bloodline with a Mudblood then…"

"If you think that you can…" Leshia began furiously feeling a refreshing surge of anger fuel her words.

"I can do what I like Malfoy," Damian Allseyer laughed cruelly.

"You're sure looking cocky for a guy who was hiding behind a picture of a Malfoy not so long ago," Leshia growled furiously at the boy. For a moment Allseyer's smile fell at this reference to his cowardice in the showdown he had engineered for Leshia and the murderous spirit he had tried to control throughout their third year. He had been confidant in its presence only when he held a picture of Draco Malfoy, the only being the creature feared. "I notice you're not trying to kill me this year Allseyer. Something the matter? Ran out of ideas?"

Quite suddenly the boy pulled his wand on Leshia, who was equally as quick to return the favour. The enemies eyed each other with intense dislike and ignored their friends' pleading to put their wands away.

"I don't need any bright ideas Malfoy. Just two words and you'd be dead right now." Despite the tense mood Leshia laughed.

"Are you serious? You think you've got the guts? Well I dare you Allseyer! Go on, do it!" Allseyer's hand twitched and for a moment he chewed his lower lip as though the temptation were too much for the boy. Quite suddenly though his eyes went wide and his wand hand flew down at his side. Leshia wrinkled her brow at this change and wondered what had overcome her nemesis, when suddenly she fell into shadow.

"Miss Malfoy!" Tripper's cruel and twisted sneer came. Leshia spun around and looked up at the teacher with both fear and defiance. The scarred professor glanced from the girl to the boy and then back again. He had seen it all unfold and knew Allseyer had drawn his wand first. "Detention," he finally concluded, glaring only at Leshia and not the other perpetrator of this altercation. "My office after lunch tomorrow."

"But sir…" Leshia tried.

"Do you want to join me now?" the cruel man demanded eliciting a quick shake of the head from his victim.

"No sir," the girl conceded and she hung her head. As though she could feel Damian Allseyer's jubilation at finding in the unpleasant teacher an ally who hated Leshia as much as he did, Leshia's skin crawled. Once the Runes teacher had limped away Leshia lifted her head again and stared at the man through narrowed eyes.

"Come on Leshia, let's go catch up with the others," Rachel urged her friend, who seemed dead set on glaring at Tripper for the remainder of her days. Finally though, she ripped her gaze from the man and turned around to find Allseyer and his friends nearly wetting themselves in laughter.

"It's nice to see at least one of the teachers has their priorities straight on the treatment of traitors at Hogwarts." Leshia stared at the boy silently, before quite suddenly she lurched in his direction. Instinctively Allseyer backed away eliciting a frightened yelp. Leshia though had been feigning an attack and merely stopped short of the boy, smiled a twisted sneer, before she stalked away with Rachel in pursuit.

XXX

The following day Leshia, Katie and Rachel descended on the library. It was a rainy Saturday and the library was bursting with the upper years, who were no doubt already struggling under vast amounts of homework. Leshia found it hard to concentrate on her Runes assignment; all she could think of was what Tripper was going to do to her in their one-on-one detention.

As is always the way with such things, the detention came much sooner than it would have had Leshia not been dreading it. After lunch she grimly offered her friends a meek wave before she ambled towards the Runes study. Again her heart sank as she remembered how differently this place had made her feel when her mother was in charge, but bravely the girl reached out and knocked on the door. Unusually Tripper was the one to answer, which he did by wrenching the heavy door open.

"In," he growled. Leshia eyed the twisted man worriedly, but squeezed past him into the cluttered study nonetheless. Instinctively she made towards the table with the Greek rune stones she and Julius Black had been documenting.

"Where are you going?" Tripper growled. "Sit over there." A mottled hand pointed towards a spindly chair placed right before the desk under a peculiar device that shone down on the chair below.

"Sir?"

"Do it!" With a heavy heart Leshia sighed and did as she was told. The chair was even more uncomfortable than the one she had sat in before, and for a moment the youngster wondered at the craftsmen that had made such a cruel chair.

'Probably King Cruel himself,' the girl thought bitterly as Tripper sat down behind his desk in the gloom. Under the bright light of the machine above her head Leshia found it hard to make out the rest of the room.

"What is your name?" the man suddenly demanded. Leshia frowned heavily, her face morphing into a disgruntled arrangement.

"What?"

"You heard me!"

"But sir, you know my name," the girl complained in confusion.

"I am testing my instrumentation. Now _tell_ me, what is your name?" Awkwardly the teenager glanced upwards where the peculiar mystery device hung. 'Instrumentation' was an ominous word and for a moment she worried what this madman was up to. It was almost as though her were interrogating her.

"If you want to get out of here by the end of the day then I would cooperate if I were you."

"Alecia Malfoy!" Leshia spoke quickly and clearly, managing to keep most of her anger from her tone.

"Who are your parents?" Tripper asked, glancing upwards as he did so. For a moment the girl paused; she didn't feel comfortable. This was all wrong.

"Sir I'm sure that this isn't allowed…"

"What?" Tripper snapped icily. "Allowed? I work for the Minister of Magic himself Malfoy. Everything I do is allowed! Now answer the question." Leshia squirmed a little on the uncomfortable seat.

"Draco and Hermione Malfoy," she finally replied darkly.

"What is your relation to the wanted criminal Lucius Malfoy?"

"I don't have any relation to him…" Quite suddenly a bright lightning spark of light shot down from the device and struck Leshia's arm. She recoiled in pain and clutched her singed skin to her chest, her eyes full of fear as she looked up at the cruel device.

"As you will see Miss Malfoy, your lies won't do you any good here."

"You're insane!"

"Silence! Answer the question truthfully."

"He's my dad's father alright? Why are you asking me these questions when you know the answers already?"

"Why Miss Malfoy, you're here to help me fine-tune my equipment, nothing more. Your answers are irrelevant to me."

"Yeah right, you're just using this as an excuse to…"

"Do you know where Lucius Malfoy is?"

"_No_!" Leshia hissed loudly and then smiled broadly when Tripper seemed disappointed that his machine had not punished the girl. "See! You don't know everything!"

"Has Lucius Malfoy been in contact with you since you saw him last?" the twisted man continued unperturbed.

"No."

"Do you know what his intentions are?"

"No." A sparkle of lightning shot from the machine, but did not quite hit Leshia. The child nonetheless ducked down to avoid the painful punishment. Tripper paused and narrowed his eyes calculatingly at the girl.

"Not entirely the truth eh? A part of you _must _know what he plans to do!"

"Well it's obvious isn't it?" Leshia complained sounding fraught; this was worse than she could have imagined.

"Is it?"

"Well he didn't come back for a family reunion did he? He's trying to resurrect Voldemort, I thought that much would be obvious." At the name Tripper twitched noticeably. His eyes narrowed at the girl in slight fear.

"How do you know this?" he managed. Leshia frowned.

"It's. Obvious," she stated very slowly and loudly. "He's with the bad guys, they want Voldemort back so that's what he's trying to do."

"Are you helping him?" Leshia shook her head firmly. "Have you helped him?" Again a shake of the head, but this time the device above sparkled threateningly. Leshia furrowed her brow and glanced upwards in amazement. "How have you helped him?"

"I don't know!" the girl cried out quickly. Tripper glanced up expectantly, but his machine remained quite still. Silence followed in which the ministry stooge made notes on a watermarked piece of parchment. Leshia squirmed in her seat, wondering what would happen if she made a run for it and told the headmaster what Tripper was doing. He'd never put up with it…but then again, if she invoked the full extent of Tripper's rage then he would only come back with a warrant to officially interrogate her and then he might be crueller still. Besides, Leshia Malfoy did not need Albus Dumbledore or anyone else to fight her battles for her!

"Your father," Tripper suddenly spoke and he looked up with eyes narrowed in hatred. Leshia squirmed a little more; this was not a line of inquiry she was terribly happy about. Above her the machine crackled as though it sensed the girl's pre-emptive design to avoid the questions. Tripper almost smiled. "Does he know where Lucius Malfoy is?"

"No," Leshia quickly replied, though up above the machine struck again, detonating directly over her head. In surprise the teenager ducked down. Tripper looked away in thought, before he scribbled a note on his parchment.

"Is your father trying to resurrect he-who-shan't-be-named?" Leshia shook her head.

"No," she stated firmly, but again the lightning struck and again failed to hit her. "He's not!" the girl cried out, but the machine lit up her surroundings with sparks. Leshia slumped down furiously; her own uncertain emotions about her father and his part in Voldemort's downfall and Lucius' survival were implicating him. It was best not to speak she decided.

"Is your father working together with Lucius Malfoy?" Leshia stayed silent. "Answer the question Miss Malfoy!"

"I won't."

"You will answer the question or suffer the consequences!" Tripper growled.

"Fine! I'll suffer the consequences thanks," the girl quipped lightly.

"This is your last chance!" Tripper roared in anger. "Either you answer my questions or you will remain here the rest of the night." Leshia stared into the man's eyes and finally shook her head; she would not be responsible for her father being thrown into Azkaban. She had already implicated herself, which was bad enough.

"I'll take the consequences thanks," she spoke hoarsely. Tripper climbed to his feet suddenly, his chair falling over in his wake. Leshia jumped back in surprise.

"You're just like your father," the cruel man whispered bitterly, before he raised his wand to the machine. "_Vindico_," he ordered it. The air around Leshia seemed to solidify. In alarm the girl realised she couldn't move her arms and legs; she was trapped! Above her the machine was gathering sparks until quite suddenly a bolt struck her in the leg. The youngster cried out despite herself. "You were warned. I'll be back for you later. In the meantime, you might consider the benefits of cooperation." With this Tripper stalked from the room leaving Leshia frozen in the prickling light as bolt after bolt struck her arms and legs in cruel punishment.

The girl lost count of how many hours she remained frozen. Tiny holes were starting to form in her jeans and T-shirt where too many sparks had struck her. The pain, though initially had been severe, had now numbed with excessive exposure and now with each blow Leshia's resolve to find a way to withstand the bully that was Tripper strengthened. She would not run to her father or the headmaster the moment she was free; no, she was going to see this through to the end and plot her own revenge. Besides, the last thing she needed was for her father to duel Tripper, as this would surely be the excuse the cruel stooge needed to throw Draco into Azkaban.

'I bet that's why he's doing this,' the girl thought to herself in her light-prison. 'Well it's not going to work.'

Night fell and still Leshia was given no relief from the constant pain of Tripper's cruel device. Her stomach was rumbling, which could only mean that dinner had long since passed. The cruel teacher's words lingered in Leshia's mind. He had said she would have to stay all night, which could only mean she had many more hours of torture. Fitful sleep started claiming the girl in between shocks until finally she fell into a deeper slumber undisturbed by the pain.

"Wake up!" Leshia's eyes shot open. The device no longer held her, so quite suddenly she jumped to her feet and backed away from Silas Tripper, sat once more behind his desk. "Leave."

The girl didn't need telling twice and within seconds she was out in the corridor, sprinting back towards Gryffindor Tower with heavy bruised legs. The castle was darker than she had seen it in a long time and every corridor Leshia turned down was deserted. It was obviously very very late. By the time she reached the fat lady the girl was shaking a little with emotion and frustration.

"Toad bogies," she whispered shakily to the dozing portrait, which dutifully swung forward without even waking up. Leshia clambered inside the hole to find a common room lit only by the embers of a dying fire and a small candle in the corner over by the fourth years' window box.

"Rodeo?" Leshia whispered in surprise when she saw the room's only occupant. The boy jumped comically and looked up from his notes, clutching at his chest where his heart lay.

"God Leesh, you're going to give me a heart attack!" he complained amusedly, but soon the mirth was wiped from his face when he saw the state the girl was in. "What did he do to you? Why are you back so late?" Leshia shook her head and walked stiffly over to the settee in front of the hearth, where uneasily she lowered herself down. Within moments Rodeo was at her side.

"Everything's messed up Rodes," the girl finally whispered. Her eyes were growing glassy. "Everything's completely wrong and I…" She dropped her head, tears rolling down her cheeks. Before the boy knew what she was doing Leshia had wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him firmly, an embrace he quickly returned.

"Did Tripper hurt you?" he asked calmly. Thankfully he couldn't see Leshia's wincing face or he would not have believed her lies,

"No, I'm just tired."

"Leesh I know your life must be totally on its head right now, but…well we're all here for you you know?"

"I know."

"And if you want, I'll take a hit out on Tripper," the boy added resolutely. Despite herself Leshia laughed shakily and pulled away wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"What's a hit?"

"Well you know," Rodeo explained, his expression that of an archetypal 'tough guy'. "I'll hire someone to take him out." This time Leshia's laugh was a genuine one and she shook her head.

"That's okay. Tripper's a small small man Rodes. Whatever he does, I'm not going to let him get to me."

XXX

Sunday brought very unwelcome questions to Leshia's door. She couldn't avoid showing her bruised limbs to her friends as they changed in their dormitory and when Katie and Rachel saw the abuse Tripper had wrought on their friend they were more enraged than Leshia had ever seen them. She had to plead with them not to approach Dumbledore or worse, her father and instead urged them to think of a way to get the cruel teacher back. They understood Leshia's worries; what on earth would Draco do if he found out about the pain Tripper had put Leshia through?

The girls were reluctant to fuel Leshia's desire for revenge and instead urged her and pleaded with her to stay out of Tripper's way. They also managed to eventually persuade Leshia to slink down to the hospital wing after dark when the corridors were less busy with nosy people. As usual Madam Pomfry was very good at making Leshia feel very guilty for getting herself injured, but also very good at asking few questions. From experience, the girl knew Pomfry wouldn't speak of her mysterious injuries; the woman was bound by a type of patient-healer confidentiality that prevented her from telling tales.

Monday brought the most difficult challenges to Leshia's door: having to come face to face with father and somehow prevent him from worming the story out of her. Defence Against the Dark Arts fell first thing Monday morning and from the moment Leshia avoided her father's eye in the corridor he suspected something had happened. Throughout the lesson she again avoided looking directly at him to the point that after the bell had gone he called for her to remain behind. She did so exceedingly reluctantly.

"Something's happened hasn't it?" Draco asked once the door had gently shut behind Rachel, the last and most unwilling pupil to leave the class. Leshia looked at the floor beneath her father's feet sulkily.

"What makes you say that?"

"Whenever you can't meet my eye it means you're hiding something," her father replied firmly. "And you haven't been able to look at me all day." As though wanting to prove him wrong Leshia looked up sharply, but the moment she met her father's concerned gaze she averted her eyes again, intently studying the window instead.

"Look it's nothing you have to worry about dad. I just…"

"Is it to do with Tripper?" Again Leshia met her father's eyes, finding them narrowed this time in suspicion and dislike. The girl's hesitation gave it away. "Leshia, what did he do?"

"Nothing!" the girl complained hotly. "You don't have to fight my battles for me dad! I'm not a little girl anymore." Draco's head twitched slightly to the side and in his irritation he pushed himself from the desk he had been leaning on to pace the floor.

"He bullies grown women and grown men too! You don't have to be a little girl to fall victim to his abuse. I just want to look after you sweetheart." His tone betrayed more desperation than he had intended and in truth Draco wasn't surprised when Leshia jumped to her feet, irritated by his words.

"You don't have to look after me anymore, I'm nearly _fif_teen," the girl countered hotly. Draco's face crumpled in frustrated amusement at her words and in annoyance he lifted his hands to his face eliciting an exasperated noise.

"Fifteen and invincible right?" he asked slightly crueller than he had intended. Leshia stared into her father's eyes icily before she nodded. With nothing more to say to him the girl slung her satchel over her shoulder and started towards the door.

"Whatever happens," Draco spoke coarsely. At the door Leshia stopped, her hand inches from the handle. "If you turn out to be human like the rest of us, you know I'd do anything to protect you." Leshia closed her eyes tightly, before she pushed into the door and into the corridor beyond. As she ran away from her father's classroom she felt hot tears stinging once more at her eyes. Fearing they were about to start falling she dove into an empty classroom and leaned her head back against the door she had shut behind herself.

"That's what I'm afraid of," she whispered into the gloom.

XXX

In Ancient Runes Leshia managed to hang her head and avoid any more calamities by behaving exceptionally and working very hard. Even Tripper couldn't fault her efforts, though he did present the whole class at the end of the lesson with a punishment more cruel possibly than the one he had dealt Leshia. The inexperienced teacher set the fourth years a near impossible assignment due in in a week's time and had threatened them with being removed from his class should they fail to do the work ensured. Though none of them dared complain about the insurmountable task to the teacher himself, the moment the youngsters were out of Tripper's hearing range they all burst into frantic complaints. Katie arguably worried the most, as with most of her time being consumed by trip meetings, she had very little opportunities for doing homework.

The Ancient Runes pupils commandeered the library from the moment they were released from that lesson and only trip meetings and quidditch practice relieved certain members from their group studying effort. The youngsters had decided as a group to work together. Even Leshia managed to overlook her dislike of Julius Black to cooperate with the boy; the class' academic futures were at risk and as this was all many of these pupils had, the stakes were high indeed.

By Wednesday Leshia and her friends were losing their wits a little, but thankfully, en-route to the library a happy distraction was about to give them a well-earned rest. Before they could get to the double doors of the library several figures stepped into their path. They were all members of the organisation they had founded in their third year: the Blue Lions.

"Hey guys," Leshia remarked lightly when the group of Ravenclaws and Gryffindors appeared. "You look like you're on a mission."

"We are, sort of," Gracie Wallice spoke on behalf of the group. "We were wondering if we were going to keep the um, you know, thing going this year." The girl winked elaborately at the best friends, who backed away a little.

"Are you okay Gracie? You've got this twitch…" Rachel began with a wrinkled brow, but Katie quickly silenced her with an elbow to her ribs.

"We hadn't really thought about it," the raven-haired girl replied truthfully.

"Maybe we should hold a meeting to talk about it," Noah Tristan, another Ravenclaw in fourth year, suggested. Leshia glanced from Katie to Rachel and then back at the group in front of them. Finally she shrugged.

"Sounds good, after dinner in the usual spot?" Her proposal was met with approving nods all round. "We'll try the coins, but just in case, you'd better mention it to everyone you come across okay? We'll do the same."

As soon as the trio of friends had made themselves comfortable in the library they turned their thoughts not to their impossible Runes homework, but to the issue of whether or not they ought to continue with regular Blue Lions meetings. There had been a definite need for the meetings the year before due to the continuing threat to life at Hogwarts, but the Mordgeist had been beaten never to return and aside from the resident Ministry psychopath there was little else threatening the safety of Hogwarts' students.

Katie surprised her friends by revealing that she did in fact have her Blue Lions coin on her. She used her wand to change the details, which would trigger a chain reaction in the coins of the other members. It was an idea that they had pilfered from Hermione's ingenious method of communicating to the organisation of her era, Dumbledore's Army. The sight of the coin brought back memories of a simpler time for Leshia, which she explained to her friends after they pressured her to explain why she was feeling glum.

"Isn't that just totally messed up?" Leshia groaned. "That to me the 'good old days' was a time when a homicidal monster was trying to kill me." Rachel sniggered.

"Actually, that sums you up pretty nicely."

"Cheers," Leshia grumbled fondly.

"Um guys?" All three girls looked up to find David Sykes, a Ravenclaw member both of the Blue Lions and their impromptu Runes studying sessions, standing over them with raised eyebrows. "I know you're talking about the um, you know what, but they're wondering over there if you've had a chance to work on section H yet."

"Oh um, not yet," Leshia uttered a little embarrassedly. "But we will!" she added when David seemed disappointed. The boy walked away to let the others know and after they had been cast disappointed looks by the very academically minded Runes pupils the three Gryffindor girls turned their attention to their work.

Finally as dinner was looming, the Runes pupils shut their books in favour of sustenance. Being the only Gryffindors who took the subject the trio of friends were free to run back to their common room venting their frustrations with loud conversations and laughter. Once back at the tower they came across a general throng of their peers moving out towards the Great Hall and after they had struggled through them to drop their satchels in their window box they readily joined the mass exodus.

"We'd better let people know about the meeting," Leshia whispered to her friends, who nodded decisively. Several of the members were trying to catch their eye as though signifying that they had noticed on their coins that a meeting was to be held, but it couldn't do any harm to check.

"I'll go see if those guys got the message," the blonde girls told the others as she nodded ahead to where Owen Gabriel and his best friends Paul and Dan were sauntering with a swagger in their steps. No doubt the giggling girls behind them had something to do with their bravado. Leshia fought the urge to roll her eyes in amusement.

"I'll go see about them," Rachel agreed, heading off in the other direction to confront her fifth year cousins Sarah and Amy. Katie chose to alert Tom and Luke.

"Hey, can I have a word," Leshia called out to Owen and his friends as she suddenly appeared at their sides. They turned to look at her with matching curious expressions.

"Shorty! We thought you'd dropped off the face of the earth," the tall keeper remarked cheerfully.

"Very nearly, but not quite," the girl countered cheerfully and beckoned the young men away from the crowd with her raised eyebrows. After glancing to one another and then at the disappointed gaggle of girls in their wake they followed.

"Something the matter?" Owen asked once they'd reached a relatively quiet part of the corridor.

"I was just wondering if you guys checked your coins at all?"

"Coins?"

"Yeah you know, about the you-know-what."

"Um, no not really."

"Owen stop playing around! You know what I'm talking about," Leshia complained. Finally after feigning his bewildered expression a little longer Owen laughed and nodded.

"Yeah we noticed, everyone's been watching those things since the start of term. About time you called a meeting," the tall boy explained.

"Yeah well, we've had bigger things on our minds," Leshia countered with a rueful smile.

"We'll be there okay?" Paul assured Leshia with the usual chilled manner he reserved only for her. There was something about him that the girl had never quite liked, as he was always brusque with her. Most of Owen's friends in fact seemed a little strange with the girl, though it didn't often bother her. Now was no different; she had bigger things to worry about.

"Okay cool, well I'll see you there. You can get back to…" Leshia rolled her hands in the general direction of the giggling throng of girls with a wrinkled brow. "Whatever it was that you were doing."

"For your information shorty, we were networking," Owen explained matter-of-factly. Leshia grinned cockily at the boy.

"Right," she finally uttered drolly. "Well please, don't let me get in the way." Her lopsided smile still in place the girl bowed out of their way before turning on heal and running to catch up with her own friends, who had succeeded in passing the message on to the rest of the Gryffindor Lions. They relayed the same information that Owen had; people had been watching their coins for days now waiting for news and everyone seemed relieved that a meeting had been called.

"I hope people aren't going to report creepy goings on again," Leshia grumbled as they walked into the Great Hall. "On top of everything else, another spook problem is the last thing we need!"

XXX

The Room of Requirement rose to the occasion as it provided the usual meeting place for the Blue Lions. Once everyone had made themselves comfortable with warm mugs of butterbeer and pumpkin tarts the meeting began. Though everyone had been quite eager to hold the meeting, nobody seemed to have anything untoward to report and it soon became a general consensus that the group should only be summoned if anybody caught wind of any suspicious behaviour or goings on. They all agreed that they shouldn't disband by any means, but that regular meetings weren't important this year.

With the issue resolved speedily Leshia, Katie and Rachel had no excuse but to trudge back to the library, along with David Sykes, to attend the frantic Ancient Runes study session that had been reluctantly continuing without them. The atmosphere in the library was dire and reminiscent of the usual pre-exam cramming frenzies that graced the library at the very end of the year. Madam Pince was baffled by the sudden intensity at which the fourth years were working, but had surmised from the staff room gossip that the new teacher at school was most likely to blame. If it weren't for the fact that she'd had to threaten them several times with expulsion from the library for talking in loud and agonised tones then she might have felt sorry for them.

It was a miserable second week back for Tripper's fourth year pupils and by the weekend they had reached fever pitch over their half finished assignments. Sleep became a thing of the past and the days of 'dossing about' had become a mere distant glimmer of a happy memory. Leshia, Katie and Rachel were in over their heads and they knew it.

On Sunday afternoon Katie became the first person to finish followed shortly by Julius Black. They aided their friends as much as they could and soon most of the class were on the home straight. With not much else to be deduced from the heavy rune dictionaries and theory books in the library and wanting to seek out more comfortable environments to write their conclusions the class went their separate ways, looking to one another as though they had just survived a life-or-death catastrophe together, not a mere homework assignment. Katie had to rush off for a pre-dinner trip meeting, as in the morning the international pupils would be arriving, leaving Rachel and Leshia to amble back to Gryffindor Tower in near catatonic states. They were exhausted and far from being on the ball. This was a bad time to ambush them, but unfortunately for Leshia, fate was not smiling on her.

"Leshia!" Both girls froze and slowly turned around to see Draco walking briskly towards them.

"What are you doing here?" Leshia asked sounding far from pleased to see her father. His brow dipped at the girl's cheek, though he said nothing of it.

"Your mother's expecting you home for Sunday dinner," Draco relayed firmly, his tone indicating that arguing him on the matter would not be welcome. Rachel glanced to her friend worriedly, hoping the blonde girl would manage to keep herself out of trouble for long enough to finish their assignment.

"I can't," Leshia finally stated simply.

"Why not?" Draco's grey eyes were slightly frightening, even to Leshia. She could not know how Hermione had feared Leshia's rejection of her invitation and how seeing this pain and caused Draco such discomfort that he had stormed straight from the kitchen to collect his wayward daughter by force if need be.

"I've got work to do."

"Work that can't be done at home?" Draco warned. Leshia quickly shook her head.

"No I need Katie," she lied.

"Nice try sweetheart, but Katie's in a meeting," her father quickly pounced. Leshia narrowed her eyes at him slightly, hating for the umpteenth time his knowledge about the goings on at Hogwarts.

"I also need Rachel!" the girl quickly added. At her side the redhead fought her every urge to turn and stick her tongue out at her best friend for well and truly dragging her into the middle of this domestic argument. Draco glanced briefly to his daughter's friend and then back at Leshia.

"Rachel's more than welcome to come as well. What are you doing anyway?" Leshia fidgeted slightly on the spot and glanced down at the papers in her ink stained fingers.

"Runes," she uttered under her breath.

"Excuse me?" Draco leaned in to hear better.

"Ancient Runes," Leshia repeated louder this time, turning her tired gaze on her father.

"Are you serious? For God's sake your mother is like the local expert on this stuff," Draco spoke loudly, his tone indicating that he felt his point had been made and that Leshia would be coming with him. His daughter too, could see she had lost this battle and turned quickly to Rachel, not even masking her pleading expression for her father's sake.

"Please come," she begged. Rachel glanced to Draco's stony face and then back to Leshia's desperate one. How could she say no to her best friend? But then again, what sort of a madwoman with a death wish would she have to be to say yes to having dinner with the Malfoys?

"Of course I'll come," Rachel finally stated firmly.

"Excellent!" Without any further ado Draco led the youngsters away to the chambers he and Hermione had once inhabited. He tried not to feel offended by the fact that his daughter was trying her very hardest to exclude him from the conversation by discussing her assignment in depth with her friend.

The hearth in the once-cosy family chambers had been connected to the Malfoy townhouse in London on the floo network to enable Draco easy access to and from work and using this Draco led the two girls home. Leshia went through first finding a delicious smelling kitchen on the other end. Her mother was bent over a tray of freshly roasted potatoes and though her back was turned Leshia felt her chest tighten at the sight of her. Suddenly coming face to face with her mother after their two week separation without a chance to prepare for it had rather swept away Leshia's fervent desire to ignore Hermione and all she really wanted was to cross the kitchen and give her mum a big hug.

"Hi mum," the girl called out quickly, hoping to force away her weak emotions.

"Leshia!" Hermione called out and she spun around with an enormous smile adorning her lovely face. Only the sight of her oldest daughter could have elicited such a smile from the woman. Though she still held a carton of herbs in one hand and a jug in the other Hermione crossed the kitchen and quickly embraced her daughter, who didn't pull away. "You look exhausted! Are you alright?"

"Mum I'm fine," Leshia complained amusedly. "We've just been working really hard on this assignment. I've still got to finish it. Dad said we could do it now…"

"We?" As though in answer of Hermione's question quite suddenly Rachel appeared in a flurry of green flames. A momentary hurt expression materialised on Hermione's face, before she pushed it away and bore down on Ron's daughter.

"Hello darling," she called out warmly and hugged the girl as tightly as she had hugged her own daughter.

"Hi," Rachel replied sheepishly. "I hope there's room for one more, it's just Leesh and I have been working on…"

"Don't worry about it," Hermione assured the girl. "You're more than welcome at our table any night of the week and you know you are." Finally as Hermione pulled away from the teenagers the flames burst into life one last time revealing a slightly apprehensive Draco. He glanced from his daughter to his wife as though he had expected to find them in the middle of a catfight. Thankfully this was not the case.

"Can I have my drink now?" he asked his wife amusedly, instantly relaxing when he saw the situation was still amicable. Hermione beamed at her husband and collected a tumbler filled with amber liquid from beside the stove.

"Yes I think so," she replied happily and passed it to the man of the house. He smiled gratifyingly and dropped down at the table.

"Come on Leesh, let's get started. I've nearly forgotten everything Katie dictated to us," Rachel urged quickly, before she dropped down with her stuff at the other end of the table and sat down. Though her parents were watching her every move, Leshia quickly joined her friend and both girls took out their long parchments to write their conclusions.

"Can I get you girls a drink?" Hermione suggested. She was in her element and seeing her so pleased made Draco smile amusedly. He only hoped she would be this happy later on after Leshia had gone home for the night. Hopefully the youngster wouldn't give her mother another reason to fall asleep crying silently in her pillow.

"Yes please!" both girls replied eagerly and were soon enjoying a cocktail style juice drink complete with straws and little umbrellas. Leshia rolled her eyes almost fondly at the concoction while Rachel beamed at Hermione when the drink was placed down in front of her.

"If only we could get this sort of treatment in the library," she mused wistfully. "I think I'd be the school's biggest swot if we did." Leshia snorted despite herself and shook her head.

"You'd still have to fight Katie for that title," she laughed happily.

"True, that cousin of mine is scarily nerdy." The girls exchanged a fond grin before they turned back on their work. Their conclusions were soon complete and just in time for dinner to be served. Hermione had just about finished laying the table when both girls dropped their quills as one and lifted up their creations.

"At last!" Rachel crowed. "It's dead!"

"Don't say that, not after we spent a week working our fingers to the bone…" Leshia began grimly.

"Good grief!" Both girls spun around quickly to see Hermione staring over their shoulders in complete shock at their assignments, an enormous platter in her hands. "What on earth has that man set you?" Without asking she snatched Leshia's parchment from her hands after quickly placing the platter on the table and scanned down the enormous roll with expert eyes. She seemed flabbergasted and after glancing to Rachel's work to confirm what Tripper had asked the youngsters to do she turned her wide eyes on Draco. "He's out of his mind!" she exclaimed.

"Hermione," Draco warned simply, nodding his head to his surprised daughter and her friend; now was not a good time to have a rant about Tripper's teaching methods. As though remembering the girls' presence Hermione looked down at them sharply, her face crumbling in sympathy.

"This project," she began slowly. "This project is meant to be set in the last term and it's meant to _take_ the whole term. Did he ask you to do this in a week?" Leshia and Rachel looked to one another in shock, but both nodded slowly.

"Threatened to chuck us out if we didn't do it was more like it," Rachel concluded. Hermione's eyes went wider still, though neither girl had felt this were possible.

"Um mum, there's smoke coming out of the oven," Leshia quickly pointed out, hoping to find a way to distract her mother's attention from their Runes lessons. Talk of Tripper made her very awkward as whenever the man's name was mentioned Draco turned his eyes on her, as though he were trying to read her mind. If he _ever _found out about what Tripper had done…

"Oh no!" Hermione wailed and thankfully she handed Leshia's parchment back to her before she charged across the kitchen to deal with the burning roast chicken. Thankfully it wasn't too badly damaged and after some careful spell work the four diners were happily enjoying the delicious home cooked roast along with a cheerful banter that warmed the chef's heart. To see Leshia so at ease and in the presence of her parents was a sight for sore eyes and even though she had to attribute most of this change in her daughter to her delightful redhead friend, Hermione was still grateful for the interaction.

Draco too was thankful that Rachel had come. The mere presence of the girl had relaxed Leshia to a semblance of the adoring daughter she had once been and more than once she had shared a smile with her parents and spoken to them about an amusing anecdote from the castle. Insightful though her parents were, Leshia knew in herself that her contentment at the dinner table could not entirely be attributed to Rachel's catalytic effect. She was genuinely happy to be home and spend this time with her parents.

"So basically," Leshia concluded, finishing a long discussion about those who had been chosen for the trip. "We're both really happy we got kicked off the list before they could draw the names. I mean almost all the school's most annoying people are going and there's a chance we could have ended up with one of them so, well, we're just pretty happy we're not going."

All lies of course and Draco and Hermione knew it, but just the mere fact that Leshia was happily talking to them again meant they wouldn't challenge a word that came out of her mouth.

"How's Katie feeling about meeting her partner tomorrow?" Hermione asked curiously once a pleasant silence had taken hold.

"She's terrified!" Rachel sniggered.

"Yeah, but Katie's always terrified. She'd run away from her shadow if she could," Leshia added amusedly.

"She'll like who we've put her with," Hermione continued serenely and enjoyed the moment of complete shock on the girls' faces.

"What do you mean 'we'? Mum did you help plan this thing or something?" Leshia exclaimed in surprise while Rachel simultaneously asked,

"Who's she with? Where are they from?" Hermione grinned at Draco who shook his head, as though to tell her she'd said too much.

"I can't tell you much, but yes, I was approached to help team up the pupils. I've taught at Hogwarts and at the Americas Institute and I've also visited some of the other schools to give guest lectures so Albus called in my help to assign partners."

"When was this?" Leshia asked curiously and silently added, 'And how come no one told me?' though to this of course, she knew the answer.

"Only last weekend, after the lottery," her mother replied.

"Will _we _like this other girl?" Rachel asked hopefully. "Because it's all well and good making her like Katie, but we only put up with her because she's family." Though Leshia laughed heartily at the joke Rachel kept her eyes on Hermione, still wanting to know the answer to her question. Hermione smiled fondly at Ron's daughter and nodded.

"I daresay you'll like her. She's a sweet girl and you'll probably scare her to death with your antics, but she's very very _very_ kind." Rachel and Leshia glanced to one another with their eyebrows raised.

"Oh, she sounds like a swot," Leshia uttered under her breath.

"Sweetheart just because someone doesn't stick their neck out for every hair-brained scheme that comes along doesn't automatically make them a swot," Draco remarked amusedly.

"Well it doesn't make them a Gryffindor though either does it?" Leshia countered. Her father smiled and shrugged.

"Bravery and foolishness are two very different things."

"Only if it goes wrong," the blonde girl stated wisely. Hermione wrinkled her brow, while her father smiled genuinely with pride; Leshia was turning out to be insightful now she was growing a little older, which was always pleasing to see.

"Excuse me?" Hermione asked.

"Well think about it, people only ever say someone was being foolish when they act bravely and it goes wrong. If you get it right then people always say you were brave, because you got it right. Do you get it?" The intelligent witch wanted dearly to shake her head, as quite frankly her daughter's logic was a little confusing, but she did see a semblance of a point in the girl's rambling and was about to nod were it not for the sudden bawling that erupted upstairs.

Everyone at the table froze as Evie's cries reminded them all of the unmentioned tiny fifth person in the house. Hermione and Draco looked to one another, before finally the mother climbed to her feet and after smiling apologetically at the girls bustled out to attend to her youngest daughter. Leshia watched her mother go with a wounded look.

"Well what if someone gets it right by accident?" Rachel spoke up loudly, her expression slightly urgent, as though she wanted more than anything to claw the old Leshia back to the table. Draco looked to the redhead girl with a genuine smile, thanking her silently for her efforts. Leshia turned quickly and stared at her friend looking puzzled.

"How?"

"Well if you are actually being foolish, but get it right by mistake. How does that fit in to your theory?" The blonde girl wrinkled her brow while a lopsided smile grew on her face.

"Ah well that's neither. That's just called luck I'm afraid." As if by magic it was as if Evie had never interrupted the cheerful post dinner conversation.

"Well then you're the luckiest person I know," Rachel sniggered, before she braced herself to the playful punch Leshia dealt to her arm.

"Hey! I'm brave. Aren't I dad?" The girl turned an expectant expression on her father who wanted more than anything to treasure this moment in time. It had been many months since Leshia had sought his assurance and guidance where before it had been a daily occurrence.

"Very brave," he finally replied fondly and smiled broadly when Leshia beamed at him. "But also incredibly foolish and extraordinarily lucky!" Rachel burst into laughter and was about to continue the joy of ganging up on her best friend when suddenly Hermione bustled into the room with tiny Evie in her arms. The baby looked very pink and distressed.

"Draco Evie's been sick everywhere. She's not well!" the mother called to her husband worriedly. Leshia's smile instantly fell and she climbed to her feet. Her parents hardly noticed; their attention was very much concerned with the crying bundle in Hermione's arms, which had paused momentarily to make a peculiar sound from deep down within her stomach as though she was about to repeat her performance from upstairs.

Suddenly Leshia darted across the room. In a terrifying vision she foresaw a sight that churned her own stomach. All she wanted to do was to get her assignment as far from her projectile sister as possible.

"Draco what are we going to do?"

"Hermione take her to the bathroom she's about to be sick!"

"Get her away from our work!"

As though she had been granted a front-row seat to a horrifying drama Rachel watched as the scene in front of her unfolded almost in slow motion. As the three Malfoys all spoke over one another Evie finally expulsed what was left of her own dinner and through a horrifying turn of fortune she had aimed it directly at her older sister, who was still frantically trying to carry her essay to safety.

Even once the baby had resorted back to her tears the four older occupants of the room remained frozen in the horrible moment. Any joy, any semblance of normal life that they had all enjoyed before vanished into thin air. Instead all that remained were Evie's screams and Leshia's ruined homework. The blonde girl stared at her work, her face crumpled in complete and utter despair while her shoulders rose and fell silently.

"Leesh," Rachel spoke finally, her words freeing the Malfoys from their horrified silence.

"Darling," Hermione tried, but Leshia was backing away from her mother and her sister. Her eyes had now narrowed on the crying baby in such a cruel way that Hermione could barely look. "It was an accident. We can fix it…"

"Do you _know_ how hard I worked on that?" Leshia spoke softly, her voice seeming an octave lower than it normally did. She shook as she spoke. "Tripper was probably going to tear it to pieces anyway. I did _not_ need this! Not today!" Quite suddenly the girl grabbed her satchel and lurched towards the hearth. Hermione was unable to stop her and Draco made no attempt to.

"Leshia please! It was an accident, she didn't mean…" The rest of Hermione's words were lost though as her oldest daughter disappeared into the green flames of the hearth leaving Rachel awkwardly making her way round the table to collect her own undamaged work. She glanced up at Hermione as she made her way round to the hearth.

"Thank you so much for dinner," she offered quietly and then looked up at Draco. "I'll um…I'll see if I can maybe you know, talk to her." Though the tormented father seemed forlorn he managed a smile at the redhead girl and reached out to squeeze her shoulder.

"Thanks Rachel," he replied gently. "Goodnight." As the redhead girl disappeared in the flames she wondered what scared her more; the thought of trying to console Leshia through this latest upset or the fact that Draco had actually showed her affection.

In the kitchen at the Malfoy home Evie's cries were rising in both volume and anger. The baby was evidently exceedingly annoyed that she felt poorly and felt she had to voice this to everyone in the neighbourhood. Her mother finally pulled herself from her despair and started seeing to her, trying to comfort her while she walked briskly towards the cabinets to find a draught that might settle her baby's stomach. Draco watched his wife and daughter with a detached feeling of emptiness. He couldn't explain how lonely he now felt without Leshia's presence making their family…or rather, making his life complete.

"She was herself again," he finally spoke distantly. "She was finally acting normally." Hermione almost ignored him, managing only a vague nod in his direction in response. "Hermione are you listening?"

"Hmmm."

"I think her friends are the key. We have to involve them all because when they're around our daughter actually lets herself be our daughter again." Again a silence met Draco's heartfelt words. To him nothing was more important than restoring his position in Leshia's life, but it seemed that all that mattered to Hermione at this moment was Evie's health. It would be unfair of course to suggest that she valued this at the expense of Leshia's happiness and place in the family, but her instincts were demanding she saw to the most immediate concern, and this was Evie's condition. Draco however, couldn't understand this; he had no maternal instincts.

"Hermione!" he spoke sharply. "Please listen to me."

"Draco don't start this now," his wife quickly countered him, her voice desperate and worried. "Evie's sick!"

For a moment Draco was silenced and he looked to his baby's squirming arms and legs with a forlorn expression. Emotions were tearing him up inside, trying to drag him in all sorts of different directions at once. Yes he was concerned for his younger daughter, but somehow his concerns for Leshia were taking over. Evie would be well again, but Leshia…

"You're forgetting about Leshia Hermione!" he finally spoke darkly. In shock at such a statement his wife spun around to see her husband stalking out of the kitchen.

"Draco come back!" But Draco didn't come back. For what seemed like the hundredth time since Evie's birth Draco locked himself in his study with a bottle of whiskey and an album full of memories. He would drown his sorrows in the pictures of his little girl when she still loved him and wish more than anything that he could turn the clock back.

XXXX

End of Part III

There are complex emotions at work here. I hope you understand the root of them. Please review. I was totally caught up in another story and came to a mental block, it was the reviews I received from you guys that made me turn my attentions back to this and write this chapter pretty much in one day. Good day to be inspired :)


	4. Part Four

**Generations: the Blue Lions**

**Part IV**

The quietness of the once Malfoy family chambers broke suddenly with the bright green flames that gave way to an enraged Leshia Malfoy. She couldn't see straight such was her distress at seeing her homework, the homework she had given her all, destroyed before her very eyes by _her_. She couldn't think straight, so there was little chance of her waiting to allow Rachel to catch up. Blindly she stormed out into the corridor and began marching back to Gryffindor Tower. You would have been mad to step into her path; even Tripper wouldn't have posed Leshia any problem in this mood.

Moments later Rachel emerged in the dark chambers just in time to hear the front door slamming, so quickly she rushed to catch up with her friend. Leshia didn't slow down when the red-haired girl called after her down the corridor. Instead she sped up meaning Rachel had to run to reach her side before they reached mainstream post-dinner traffic in the corridors.

"Leesh don't go mental," the calmer of the two urged worriedly. "Please!"

"I'm not going mental," her friend countered in that same deep dangerous tone she had spoken in before. The very sound of that un-Leshia voice coming out of her friend's mouth sent shivers down Rachel's spine.

"Okay," she uttered shakily. "Well when you calm down we'll try and find a way to fix this. I'm sure it's not ruined." Leshia shut her eyes tightly and sped up; she would not turn on Rachel, anyone but Rachel and so chose the only other alternative open to her: running away.

In record time the two girls reached the Fat Lady, who opened pretty sharpish when Leshia barked the password at her. The common room was bustling with their hyperactive peers, but they were pretty quick to clear a path for the two fourth-years when they saw Leshia's murderous expression. Without hindrance the girl reached the stairs and took them two at a time. Before Rachel followed however, she turned and scanned the room for Katie, who was already sat up straight in the window box, a frown adorning her pretty face. The girl on the stairs beckoned her over with an urgent hand movement before she charged after Leshia to make sure the blonde girl wasn't doing anything stupid.

Predictably, that's exactly what Leshia was doing.

"Leesh! No don't do that!" Rachel cried out when she saw her friend about to rip her sodden parchment roll in half. Quickly she darted across the room ignoring the complaints of her full stomach protesting at the sudden movements.

"Why? It's all ruined isn't it? Tripper would never take it," Leshia cried out sounding agonised. It wasn't clear at this point whether she was very upset or very angry or indeed whether she was crying or not. Rachel didn't hesitate in pulling the parchment from her friend's hands and backed away quickly.

"Stop being so stubborn Leshia, you don't know that yet," she admonished firmly, before she looked back at the parchment with one raised eyebrow. "Man, how did all this come out of one tiny baby?"

"This is the worst night of my life!" Leshia exclaimed dramatically, before she threw herself face down on her bed and slammed into it with angry fists. Wanting very much to counter this false claim, Rachel instead waited patiently for Katie to arrive in the full hope that her clever cousin would know what to do. Fast footfalls on the steps outside preceded Katie's hurried entry.

"Where have you two been?" she panted once she fell inside the door. "We were all looking for…oh my God! What happened?" The girl had now seen Leshia's ruined homework.

"Evie puked on Leshia's homework," Rachel explained calmly while on the bed Leshia made a screech like sound in anger. Katie's brow furrowed so much her eyebrows nearly met in the middle.

"Evie?" she finally managed. "Evie who…no! You went to Leshia's house?"

"Look we can tell you all about that later, but for now can you fix this? Please?" Rachel seemed desperate and as she spoke she shook the parchment in Katie's direction. The raven-haired girl stared at it for a moment, her gaze slightly distant as she evidently sought her vast memory banks for a spell that might help. Finally it seemed she had the solution.

"Right, give it here," she instructed stiffly. Rachel quickly complied and watched while her cousin took the scroll in one hand and pointed her wand at it with the other.

"_Scourgify_," the bespectacled girl whispered optimistically, as though she were desperately hoping she wouldn't make the situation worse. Amazingly though, she had picked just the right spell and slowly the putrid sogginess seemed to drift towards the tip of her wand until finally the parchment lay as dry as it had been before the incident.

Hesitantly Katie pulled her wand away while both cousins inspected the homework incredulously turning it slowly in their hands. When it didn't in fact fall to pieces, burst into flames or something equally so atrocious Rachel looked up at her cousin seeming more proud of the girl than she'd ever been.

"Katie! You're bloody amazing mate!" Leshia, who had of course been listening to their every sound and movement looked up sharply to see the cousins grinning at one another over the fixed parchment. Instantly she was on her knees, her red face now arranged in delighted shock.

"You never. Katie! I love you!" Suddenly the girl had jumped from her bed and swept her raven-haired friend up in an enormous embrace. She was hugging Katie so tightly the taller girl actually uttered a soft pained sound.

"Okay Leesh, you can let me go now. Seriously you're hurting me."

"I don't care! I want to hug you all night. You're bloody brilliant."

"Look just put this away before something else happens to it," Rachel now spoke up amusedly. At these wise words Leshia finally let their friend go with one last grateful smile, before she took her homework scroll and placed it delicately in her bag, a goofy smile on her face.

"Where did you learn that?" the redhead was asking her cousin curiously. Katie grinned and wandered over to the window seat next to her bed.

"Well remember Ryan Lofting's girlfriend Amy?" Rachel and Leshia, who had now joined the other two, nodded quickly. "She used to be amazing at household spells. That night of our Halloween bash in second year she used that spell to clean everything. I just remembered that even though the carpets had been all wet and sticky with pumpkin juice and butterbeer and stuff, after she did that spell they were bone dry and stain free. I think the spell sucks up any dirt or liquid. Now will one of you tell me what you were doing at Leshia's house and why I wasn't invited?"

Rachel and Leshia grinned to one another, before they made themselves comfortable on the soft rug beside Katie's bed using it as a backrest. They both explained the story, Leshia highlighting how they'd had no choice and Rachel highlighting how good a time they had had. One part of their story particularly caught Katie's unwavering attention.

"Your mum picked who my partner is?" she interrupted fervently.

"That's what she said," Leshia shrugged. "She didn't tell us much about the girl."

"Where's she from?"

"We don't know," Rachel answered.

"But she did say that she's really sweet and really nice and not really up for big adventures. She sounded like she knew her pretty well, so I'm guessing she's one of my mum's old pupils from the Americas Institute."

"Well if she's our age though, your mum wouldn't have taught her too long, only a few terms," Katie countered worriedly. At this mention of tomorrow's impending events she had become very nervous.

"My mum once told me they start at nine at the Americas Institute, so if this girl is our age she would have known my mum a few years. Do you remember how well Julia and Carmen knew her and they were our age?" At the memory of the two girls who had briefly shared their dormitory during the international quidditch event of their third year, who had indeed known Hermione very well, Katie nodded slowly.

"So my partner probably is from the Americas Institute?" she finally spoke slowly. Leshia and Rachel both nodded. "So I'll be going to South America next term?"

The three friends looked to each other with wide eyes; they hadn't quite pieced it together yet in reverse, but now Katie had said it out loud the fact that one of them would quite soon be very far away humbled them all into silence. Finally Rachel nodded.

"Yeah, I guess so. How do you feel about that?" A tiny smile wormed its way onto Katie's face.

"To be honest that was one of the places I was most keen to go."

"So this is good then?" Leshia now spoke cautiously. Katie's smile grew.

"Very good."

"Agh I can't believe you're going on an amazing adventure and we have to stay here in the cold and the rain!" Rachel suddenly burst out enthusiastically, an enormous beaming smile on her face. "You're so lucky!" The three girls lost themselves a little to the moment and energetically celebrated Katie's good fortune.

"It's not lucky," Katie countered once they'd calmed down a little. "I was perfectly behaved."

"You're _always _perfectly behaved," Leshia sniggered. "How many times have you had detention, like twice in your life? And I bet those times it was our fault."

"You're right; on both points," Katie replied smugly. Suddenly though, her smile wavered. "Do you think she'll like me?"

"Katie!" Leshia spoke loudly and firmly as she climbed to her feet. Before she spoke again she dropped down next to her friend and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "How could anyone not like you? You're amazing!"

XXX

Katie's fears certainly didn't dissipate with Leshia's heartfelt words of assurance. All night she lay tossing and turning in a state of restlessness wondering what her new exchange partner was going to be like. The last girls she had met from the Americas Institute had been absolutely lovely and if Hermione was sure she and her partner would get on then surely there was nothing to worry about? Unfortunately for Katie, fabricating things to feel insecure about was inherent in her worrisome nature.

Monday morning the girl was absolutely exhausted and yet wide-awake and on edge at the slightest noise. Her friends didn't fail to notice and spent breakfast trying to cheer the raven-haired girl up to no avail.

"Look Kate, if you're not going to smile can you at least stop twitching so much?" Rachel told her cousin on their way to Defence Against the Dark Arts, instead turning to teasing the girl in order to get her to start acting normally. "You look like you've got rabies or something."

"That's when you froth at the mouth you idiot," Leshia countered gleefully.

"Well it's weird whatever you want to call it."

"_You're_ weird," the blonde girl uttered under her breath, a big lopsided smile on her face.

"You know, if we weren't going to Defence Against the Dark Arts then I'd pummel you Malfoy." Leshia laughed heartily at Rachel's 'tough guy' impression.

"Why should it be any different because we're going to Defence Against the Dark Arts?" Rachel gave the girl a significant look.

"Did you forget about what happened last night?"

"No, but it's no big deal thanks to your amazing brilliant absolutely fantastic cousin here!" Leshia slung her arm around Katie's shoulders and squeezed her tightly. Her gratitude for Katie's quick thinking and homework-restoring capabilities hadn't diminished overnight.

"You still have to face your dad."

"Rachel thanks for the concern," Leshia spoke with forced ease. "But I really don't think you need to make a big deal out of this. I'm really not worried about meeting my dad." Though the cousins knew it was all lies they didn't challenge Leshia on her feelings, letting the girl pretend she wasn't dreading the next hour where her father would undoubtedly try to push his way back into her life.

Predictably, Draco was on form and from the moment he marched down the corridor inspecting the shirt situation of his first class of the day his eyes lingered on his daughter willing her to look at him, but Leshia was in no mood for cooperating and stared determinedly at her feet until Draco had moved on to let the fourth years into his classroom. Leshia quickly took her seat and busied herself with extricating her book and parchment from her bag until finally her father started speaking to the class.

"Good morning class. I hope you've come prepared for our lesson on countering the Balancing Curse by doing the reading I set you over the weekend. This will not be an easy lesson for those who were too lazy to pick up their books."

Several of the teenagers, those more accustomed to 'forgetting' to do their homework, looked to one another with wide eyes. Leshia noticed Parys and Rodeo sat across from her suddenly grow alarmed and quickly she forced herself to suppress the giggle that rose in her throat. When would those two ever learn?

"We will shortly be getting into groups of four to solve a problem involving countercurses you ought to have read about. Now, as I don't want you to curse each other into the hospital wing, I will be putting you with friends so as to avoid any unnecessary hostile encounters between those of you who can't seem to see eye to eye."

Unsurprisingly at this point Draco looked straight into Leshia's eyes and then across the classroom to where Damian Allseyer was smiling smugly. After his point had been made the teacher walked up to the blackboard and spun it round revealing five groupings of pupils. Leshia was delighted to find she had been placed with Rachel, Rodeo and Parys, but felt a momentary itch of sympathy for Katie, who had been landed with Julius Black, the dreadful Samuel Thomas and a Slytherin girl called Tatiana Zambini who though quiet had quite a sharp tongue. It was an odd grouping and one Katie was evidently not thrilled about. The girl even did a double take when the names appeared on the board.

"Your task," Draco was continuing, hushing the whispers that had broken out within seconds of their erupting. "Will be to master three effective countercurses, one from each of the Modes of Countercurses as highlighted in your reading. Now this may seem like an easy challenge, however, you have not yet tried the Balancing Curse; this will be your hardest challenge. Now as most of you know, subtle variations in the way the curse is manifested in the victim will require a counter curse from a particular Mode, which is where the problem-solving element comes into play."

Draco paused and looked over the eager faces of his pupils pausing for an instant on his daughter. For the briefest of moments she was engaged in what he was saying and bright eyed, but as soon as she realised her father had met her eye she scowled and dropped her gaze to her graffiti-covered desk surface. She had no intention of letting him off the hook after the disastrous events of last night.

"Very well," the teacher called out to the class sounding suddenly invigorated. "All of you get into your groups." Within seconds the whole class had risen and managed to suppress their surprised utterances when the desks they had been occupying came alive to shoot across the room and line the wall allowing room for a series of padded mats that materialised in their place.

"Come on Leesh, Rodes and Parys are waiting," Rachel nudged her friend excitedly and quickly the girls joined their friends in the corner by a particularly cushy looking mat.

"Right then who's going first?" Parys spoke jubilantly, clapping his hands together in excitement. Leshia snorted.

"Well considering Rachel and I are the only ones who actually read up on how to perform the countercurse I'm thinking it ought to be the pair of you."

"Too right," Rachel cheered in triumph. "I'm not getting stuck falling on my ear all day."

"Ah come on, it's not our fault we've got hectic social lives," Rodeo grumbled.

"Excuses, excuses. Onto the mat, or do you want us to curse you where you're standing?" At the redhead's warning the boys quickly darted onto the mat having no desire to fall flat on their faces on the slate tiles they had been occupying a moment ago. Rachel grinned mischievously at Leshia who raised her wand in unison with her best friend.

"Right, on three?" she suggested cheerfully. "One, two, three…"

"_Corripio pondera!_" Parys, who had for a moment shut his eyes tightly, opened one of them to a crack.

"Is that it?" he sniggered in relief. Leshia and Rachel looked to one another in confusion.

"Maybe there's something wrong with our wands?" the shorter girl suggested and after shaking her wand thoroughly she tried again to no avail. Leshia wasn't used to failing when she put her mind to it and miserably she dropped her wand hand.

"Here let us try," Rodeo suggested and he stepped forward, but quickly jumped back when both girls' wand hands snapped back into place while they countered in unison,

"No!"

"Look let's try it again, but this time really concentrate," Rachel instructed eliciting a grumpy sigh from her friend.

"That's what I was doing the last time."

"Get on with it," Parys goaded the girls with the cocky smile of a boy who believed himself to have dodged the bullet. "We haven't got all day." Rachel scowled at him and tried several times in quick succession to get the spell to work. All around them in the classroom the pupils of Gryffindor and Slytherin were experiencing similar results while they tried to curse their best friends into a disoriented stupor.

After looking around herself and taking a few steps to the side to avoid Rachel's out-of-control wand hand Leshia lifted her own and closed her eyes. With her face set in concentration she thought very hard of what it felt like to be controlled by the curse, to feel as though the world had suddenly turned on its side, to feel as though everything was spinning and no matter what she tried to do she couldn't force herself to stand up. Slowly she spoke the words and pictured her discomfort transferred onto the boy stood before her on the mat mocking her…

"What the hell?" Leshia's eyes snapped open to find Parys had fallen onto his side, a strange sickly expression on his face. "I did it!" Leshia glanced up at Rachel, who was grinning triumphantly.

"Well undo it, he's going to be sick!" Rodeo complained urgently, dropping down into as crouch beside his convulsing friend. Rachel hopped up and down uncertainly.

"I can't remember any of the countercurses…"

"Reddo, reddo!" Leshia insisted, feeling a deep sense of alarm building inside of her. She knew Rachel hadn't been the one to curse poor Parys…that was her doing and the knowledge that she had hurt her friend was off-putting to say the least. His experience with the curse seemed to far outweigh her own in terms of unpleasantness, but how had she mustered such a curse?

"Oh yeah. _Reddo pondera! Reddo pondera_!" But try as she might, Rachel couldn't seem to restore Parys' senses. Everyone in the class had stopped to stare, some in abject horror and others, namely from the snake house, in mirth. Only one person approached the group in the corner, his face arranged in a peculiar expression. Draco Malfoy was unreadable at the best of times, but right now in this tense situation he seemed afraid, impressed and thunderous all in one.

"Rachel! He's going green!" Rodeo warned the redhead in annoyance.

"I can't help it, it's just not working." Down on the floor Parys was trying to climb to his feet, his eyes roving over his friends until finally he met Leshia's gaze. A shiver of worry shot down Leshia's spine and quite suddenly she found she had raised her wand and uttered the words,

"_Reddo pondera_." She had wished so hard to retract the curse she had cast that when Parys fell still on the ground she couldn't quite believe it had worked. Rodeo instantly reached out to steady his friend on the mat.

"Mate are you alright?" A moment of silence passed, until finally Parys cleared his throat and slowly clambered onto his knees.

"I think I'm going to chuck up," he managed uncertainly, before he looked up at Leshia with a peculiar expression. "You did that didn't you?" Everyone in the class now looked at the blonde girl, who took a step back. She fought for a few moments to express herself, before finally she nodded dolefully.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do it so…well so powerfully."

"Hang on, I though I cursed you?" Rachel countered sounding out of the loop. "Didn't I?"

"It was as though you said the words inside my mind," Parys told the blonde girl, completely ignoring her confused friend. "It was really weird."

"Parys I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," the boy managed shakily and after inhaling deeply he clambered unsurely to his feet. "Just um, just don't do it again."

"All right everyone, back to work," Draco finally called loudly over the class. Reluctantly the fourth years obeyed leaving the teacher staring at the stunned group in the corner with a deep frown set into his forehead. Across the classroom the second successful curse of the afternoon was made when Katie gave Julius Black a mild headache that sent him slightly off balance. While she uttered the correct countercurse Draco approached his daughter. She knew he was behind her by the looks on her friends' faces and after arranging her own into a defiant expression she spun around.

"I…" she began defensively.

"May I have a word with you?" Draco spoke before his daughter could object. Leshia shut her mouth promptly and wriggled a little, before finally nodding and conceding defeat. She followed her father up the steps at the back of the classroom to his office where Draco left the door open and wandered in. After casting her whispering friends an agonised look Leshia followed her father inside.

"Look I don't know what…"

"Do you know that the worst a witch of your training ought to be able to deliver with the Balancing Curse is a queasy stomach and maybe a slight stumble?" Draco cut the girl short before she could explode into a teenage tirade. Leshia shut her mouth promptly and narrowed her eyes at her father, suspecting foul play. "I'm deadly serious. What you just did…and for him to hear you…Leshia what just happened?"

"I don't know. I just remembered how it felt to be under that curse I guess. I really didn't mean to hurt him, but he was being so irritating and I…" the girl trailed off and hung her head. Her father was watching her deep in thought, unsure of what to make of this peculiar turn of events. Leshia was talented to be sure, but within the bounds of normal development. This sudden prodigal usage of an advanced curse was certainly not a feat Draco felt her capable and therefore he felt doubly alarmed yet also intrigued by how she had carried it off. More alarming however, was the prospect of word of this getting out and reaching the wrong ears. If Silas Tripper heard about Leshia's sudden dab hand with curses he would see to it the girl was dragged before an inquisitorial squad.

"Perhaps you ought to leave the cursing part of today's lesson up to the others," he finally spoke.

"Dad did I do something wrong?" For the first time in a long time Leshia sounded vulnerable and this about change in personality soothed Draco's nerves instantly.

"No don't think of it like that. You just surprised me that's all."

"But the way you were looking at me…"

"Leshia I won't lie to you, I was surprised and a little worried that you could pull off such advanced dark magic."

"_Dark_ magic?" Leshia suddenly jumped back, her eyes wide in alarm.

"Leshia sweetheart calm down," Draco quickly countered reaching out to grab his daughter's flapping hands. "You cursed him. Of course that's dark magic. That doesn't make _you_ dark though. I don't want you to worry or go off on one okay? Just…just don't worry. You're not me." For a moment Leshia caught her father's creased gaze and she felt an ache swell in the pit of her stomach. Slowly she nodded and pulled her hands away from him.

"Can I go back to class now?" she asked softly.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes." Draco didn't believe his daughter, but nodded all the same.

"Of course," he sighed. Within seconds the girl was gone from his side and heading towards the door to the study. "Oh and Leshia?"

"Yeah?"

"How's your essay?" For a moment Leshia considered dragging it out and torturing her father with the prospect that it had been ruined. In her mind he deserved to know the pain the birth of her sister had out her through, but seeing him now frowning in concern she couldn't muster the cruelty to inflict such lies on him.

"It's fine. Katie scorgified it. Good as new!" With this she was gone, hurrying down the steps to find that Rodeo had successfully cursed Rachel and both boys were enjoying the redhead's complaints that she was suddenly very seasick.

XXX

Leshia was the talk of the class for the rest of Defence Against the Dark Arts and then all the way through Potions. Miraculously for the first time in her history at Hogwarts Leshia escaped punishment under Snape's watch while all her friends and peers landed themselves extra homework and some even detentions. The hook-nosed teacher could guess the girl had done something extraordinary to incur the gossip of the fourth year Gryffindors, but had no just cause to punish the quiet Malfoy girl. As the teenagers sloped off for break he watched the girl leave with a peculiar itch at the back of his mind. Something wasn't right with that child.

Leshia remained out of sorts during break and aside from incessantly apologising to an entirely recovered Parys she spoke very little and thought a great deal. Her father had said she had performed very dark magic, but that that didn't mean she was dark herself. How could that be though? How could one be capable of performing advanced dark magic without they themselves being a dark witch or wizard? Leshia's mind wandered to the time she had overheard Harry Potter admit to his wife that the Order of the Phoenix were watching her…that they suspected her of having dark affiliations. What if they were right? Maybe she deserved their stigma?

For the first time in a very long time the blonde girl stayed awake throughout History of Magic, though she listened to not a word the ghost professor spoke and stared out the window the entire time, her mind very much engaged elsewhere. Katie was the only one of her friends awake and though she was conscious of the fact that Leshia was floundering she couldn't help but feel very self-involved with the fact that in less than an hour the exchange pupils would be arriving.

'I hope she likes me,' the raven-haired girl thought fervently as the bell rang signifying it was time to move on to Ancient Runes, her last lesson of the day. The trio of friends were very subdued as they ambled along the corridor to the Runes classroom, each with a very different reason for being so. Rachel felt very hard done by to have her best friends grow so quiet.

"Would you two snap out of it!" she finally grumbled, eliciting two wide-eyed stares from her friends. "Leshia, yes you performed a pretty wicked curse on Parys that the rest of us could only dream about, but that doesn't make you an evil freak! And you Katie are going to become best friends with your exchange person, so stop fretting about whether she'll like you or not!" For a moment Leshia and Katie smirked at one another. "Now can we stop moping around in silence please? It's bad enough that we won't get to talk for an hour in runes, let alone with the pair of you starting now."

"You're right," Katie finally spoke resolutely. "Leesh nobody thinks you're a freak by the way."

"I do," Rachel piped up cheerfully, before she dodged Katie's well-aimed slap.

"Yes well you don't count," the raven-haired girl chided her cousin.

"Say what time do all you exchangers get to bunk off class then?" Leshia asked loudly, hoping to ebb Katie's sudden desire to console her. The last thing she wanted right now was pity.

"We're not bunking off!"

"Well whatever you want to call it, what time?"

"After half an hour, midway through," Katie explained with a nervous shiver.

"Well good luck getting Tripper to let you go is all I'll say," the blonde haired girl remarked lightly. "Knowing him he'll make a big fuss."

"Knowing him he'll make you jump through burning rings of fire to get out the door more like," Rachel countered cheerily. Katie grinned and dodged round Leshia to deliver a clap to the back of Rachel's head, but the youngest of the trio was swift on her feet and skirted round Leshia as though she were a protective barrier.

"Look don't drag me into the middle of this," the blonde girl laughed and when she was sure Rachel had let her guard down she ducked out of the way to allow Katie to pummel her cousin.

"Malfoy!" the redhead complained between Katie's attacks. "You sell-out!"

Leshia's laughter rang out down the corridor and by the time the trio reached the Runes classroom they found their peers looking in their direction with amused expressions. Their classmates were of a more studious disposition, but never failed to find amusement in the antics of the hyperactive Gryffindors. Today was no exception and once the three girls had joined the back of the queue a shy smiling Hufflepuff girl who went by the name Francesca Littlewood shuffled over to their side.

"Hi Katie," she spoke softly.

"His Francesca." Katie had only really met this girl through their exchange trip meetings and could guess this was why she was now being approached by the painfully shy teenager. "Are you excited?"

While the pair of them spun off into a subdued conversation Leshia rolled her eyes and feigned a bored rigid expression that had Rachel sniggering. They were feeling anxious on Katie's behalf, but would never admit it to the girl, or even to each other. As a result they were both restless and stupidly, considering the lesson they were about to go into, a lot louder and chattier than normal.

By the time Silas Tripper had flung the door to his classroom open expelling terrified third years into the corridor by the drove-load Leshia and Rachel were in the middle of an animated conversation they were loathe to abandon, but as soon as they crossed the threshold and parted ways to their separate desks they sobered up. How could they not when faced with the bitter-scarred face of Professor Tripper.

"Essays!" the mean young man demanded shrilly once every fourth year had taken their seats. Leshia quickly ruffled inside her satchel and retrieved her pristine essay, feeling reluctant to hand it over to a man who would no doubt pick it to pieces despite her hard work. Against her wishes though, the essay flew from her hand the moment she revealed it and she had to watch it fall into a pile with the others on Tripper's messy desk.

"No don't take out your books," the unpredictable teacher complained hoarsely when his pupils started unloading their satchels. "Today's lesson is a practical one, you won't be needing them. Put them away."

Despite herself Leshia perked up with interest. Any excuse to get out from under Tripper's nose at the front of the classroom was a grand idea in her view.

"You will notice the rune stones laid out along the sides of the classroom. In a moment you will be studying them in order to tell me which Rune Family they belong to. You will have to make notes and any attempt at cheating or sharing information will land you directly in detention, is that understood? By the end of the lesson I will mark your parchments and this grade will go towards your final year mark."

Leshia fought the urge to groan as Tripper's eyes fell onto her. So he was setting them a surprise test that counted towards their end of year mark was he? And before he had even taught them anything to boot.

'You're a filthy pile of cow dung, you know that scarface?' the girl thought to herself cheerfully as she met the teacher's cruel eyes. He had no idea what insult she had just devised for him and continued to the class.

"I will expect detailed rationales for your assumptions, so do not think you can go from one to the next guessing at what you think it might be and let that be the end of it." The teacher paused while each pupil in the class hung on his every word. "Well go on then, get to it!"

Leshia was on her feet within moments and scrambled to get to the back of the class where Rachel and Katie had already gathered. Without a word they exchanged a grim expression, before they turned on the impossible-to-decipher weathered rune stones to begin their more-than-impossible task.

Despite the difficulty of the task Leshia became quite engrossed, finding herself more knowledgeable on the different rune families than she had realised. Half way through the lesson she was well on her way to identifying most of the stones, finding only the smooth one by the door with a single notch in it impossible to classify. She was sure it was just a paperweight the teacher had slipped in by mistake not realising the difference, but daren't bring it up lest she find herself out on her ear.

With her quill between her teeth in concentration Leshia leant her chin on her arms and stared at the stone, willing it to make sense, when suddenly she heard Katie clear her voice. Without hesitation she spun around to see Tripper staring at her friend with narrowed eyes.

"Yes Miss Potter?"

"Um sir, it's time for the exchange people to go down to the hall now," the raven-haired girl spoke shakily. Tripper's gaze narrowed more and he glanced to the clock at the back of the room.

"_I_ will say when it is time to go Miss Potter. Now get back to work." Leshia winced and tried to catch Katie's attention with a swift shake of her quill; now wasn't the time to engage the scarred man in battle, the blonde girl thought grimly.

"But sir," Katie continued nonetheless, not heeding the warnings from her friends and classmates. "We've been given permission to go sir."

"You have not!" Tripper snapped back loudly. "_I_ will give you permission! Now unless you want to find yourself in detention I would get back to my work if I were you Miss Potter."

"Sir we _have_ been given permission," Katie continued; she seemed close to tears and despite her instincts trying to keep herself rooted to the spot Leshia found herself drifting over to her friend's side.

"By whom?" Tripper demanded.

"By Professor Dumbledore sir." Katie spun around to find Leshia right behind her speaking clearly and meeting Tripper's furious gaze. "We were all told yesterday over dinner that the exchange pupils would be excused from lessons to go and meet their guests in the hall. Weren't you listening sir?" This added impertinence Leshia could concede was a stupid decision, but it felt so good to rile the scarred man up, especially when he opened and shut his mouth going as red as a berry unable to think of a way to respond.

"Malfoy return to your work!" the teacher finally managed sounding beside himself. "Everyone else, get _back_ to your work! The three of you who have been…given permission…to leave my lesson get out and leave your parchments on my desk." Without needing to be told twice the class burst into action. As Katie filed after Julius Black and Francesca Littlewood into the corridor she turned to catch Leshia's eye, smiling so sincerely in thanks that her eyes turned a little glassy. Leshia rolled her eyes and nodded her head upwards to insist that Katie make a move on before Tripper changed his mind.

Leshia manoeuvred herself out of the teacher's glare and quickly sidled up to Rachel at the back of the class, shielded by most of their peers.

"You're mad you are," the redhead whispered ever so quietly.

"He was about to make Katie cry, what could I do?"

"Um, how about not walk right up to the hungry wolf and climb into bed with grandma?" Leshia wrinkled her brow.

"Too many fairy tales Rach."

"Yeah well I can't help it, ever since mum left I've been stuck reading to the younger ones haven't I? Matthew's favourite is Little Red Riding Hood."

"Yeah right. That's what they all say."

"If I hear talking you can rest assured that whoever is responsible will not be getting _any_ sleep tonight!" Tripper's voice rang out silencing the friends' whispers. They worked for a little in silence, meandering through their classmates, feeling peculiar at the absence of the third member of their trio. When finally they met again they'd reached the smooth stone that could not be classified.

"I bet this is a giant's marble or something," Rachel grumbled in a whisper, prodding the stone unceremoniously with her quill. Leshia grinned and nodded.

"Probably, or a dragon's bogey."

"Yuck!"

"It's weird isn't it? Without Katie I mean." Rachel met Leshia's eye for a moment before she nodded soberly.

"Yeah it is."

"I mean I never really thought about the fact that she'd actually be going…I don't like it."

"No me either."

"She's always been there and then suddenly to have her half way across the world, well…"

"Malfoy! Weasley!" The two best friends nearly jumped out of their skin and spun round to see Tripper standing right behind them. "Both of you detention after dinner!" Leshia fought the urge to roll her eyes as Tripper reached out and wrenched her to her feet from under her arm, marching her clean across the class from her friend. "If I see the pair of you together for the remainder of the class then you can both write off your plans for the rest of the week."

As soon as the sulking teacher had returned to his work at his desk Leshia met Rachel's eye and despite the prospect of their unpleasant after-dinner arrangements the two friends burst into giggles.

XXX

Katie hurried down into the entrance hall with Julius and Francesca in close pursuit. They hadn't really spoken on their way down, just to agree that Leshia was possibly the most foolhardy, yet bravest person they had ever met. Well, Julius Black hadn't exactly used those words, but Katie knew him to be thinking the same as she and Francesca. Once they arrived at the great hall they found it to be awash with lots of new and interesting faces. The raven-haired girl didn't know where to look first and found herself merely following Julius Black as he led the way towards Professor McGonagall, who seemed to be in charge with an enormous parchment clamped firmly in her hands.

"Ah! You three, where have you been?"

"Sorry Professor, we got delayed," Julius offered charmingly.

"Very well, come with me, I've got your guests waiting over here."

Briskly the tall woman led the way across the grand hall to three lone teenagers, who were all engaged in a hushed conversation. Katie's eyes were instantly drawn to the small grinning girl who had obviously come from a hot country, as her skin was the colour of olives from a life under a warm sun.

"Gabriel Ventura," McGonagall called out to a similarly coloured young man, who quickly stepped forward, catching Julius Black's eye. "Meet your host Julius Black." The two young men clapped their hands together and smiled cheerfully at one another.

"Sorry I'm late," Julius offered.

"Is okay," the other boy chuckled.

"Why don't you join the others and find a seat, the headmaster will be down shortly," McGonagall suggested to the young men, who sloped off already deep in conversation. Francesca Littlewood was next introduced to her partner Mia Kelly from the Australian School Wallaby Academy, before they too rushed off to find a good pair of seats. Katie felt the girls to be a bit mismatched as already she could hear loud and outgoing Mia Kelly talking up a storm from across the hall. For now though, she couldn't care less, as it was just her and this small smiling girl left.

"Katie Potter, I'd like you to meet your guest Luisa Cardosa." Katie's grin broadened and she reached out a hand for Luisa to shake, which the small girl did promptly. "Right then, now that everyone has arrived, I'll just go and fetch the headmaster." With this McGonagall flounced off leaving Katie and Luisa grinning stupidly at one another.

"I don't know what to say," Katie finally conceded with a small laugh.

"No me either," Luisa replied with a passable American accent and a cheeky voice. There was an element about the girl that reminded Katie of both her best friends still up in their Runes lesson.

"Is this your first time in Britain?"

"Yeah it is. I come from Ecuador and I have only ever been to my school in Mexico and to my grandmother in Chile. This is very new to me."

"Your English is amazing for someone who's never been here," Katie conceded sounding genuinely impressed. Luisa giggled.

"Thank you, but that's because my father comes from California and he taught me to speak English when I was very young. And how about you? Have you ever been to my part of the world before?" Katie grinned and shook her head.

"Never. I can't wait till it's our turn to visit you guys."

"You will find it very different. This hall is so big! We have nothing so old or so big in my school."

"I'll show you around when we get out of here, it's an old castle this school. Big doesn't even do it justice," Katie explained. "My friend's mum told me all about your school once, she seemed to think it was beautiful." Luisa raised her eyebrows.

"Your friend's mom, she is Senorita Westcoast yes?"

Katie frowned for a moment, before she remembered the alias Hermione had gone by when she lived and taught in the Americas during her spell of amnesia and not knowing her true identity. The name Leshia Westcoast had been given to her when she washed up on the western shores of the US unable to remember anything other than the name Leshia.

"Oh right! Yeah she is. Over here she's not called Leshia Westcoast anymore though, she's called Hermione Malfoy. My friend, Hermione's daughter, she's actually the one called Leshia you see." Luisa's brow was wrinkled, but after a moment she merely shrugged her shoulders accepting this news very open-mindedly. Her easy-going nature made Katie smile broadly; this Luisa girl was going to fit in at Hogwarts, she could already tell.

XXX

After lunch when Katie and Luisa had taken part in all the getting-to-know-you activities the staff at Hogwarts had planned the raven-haired girl was finally free to lead her exchange partner up top Hogwarts tower along with the other Gryffindors and their partners. The tall girl had already caught the eye of several attractive young visitors and she wondered secretly why the Hogwarts boys always seemed so shabby in comparison to foreign visitors to the castle. There were two boys from Luisa's school especially that caught Katie's eye and she had been informed by her new friend that their names were Raffa and Fed, short for Rafael and Federico. Brothers aged fourteen and sixteen respectfully; one was in her own year and incidentally Parys' partner and the other was two years above and the partner of Tom Weasley, Katie's own cousin.

Looking forward very much to getting to know these two boys Katie hardly noticed that there were two far better looking chaps right behind her on the trip up to Gryffindor tower. Only once they had filed inside and everyone's eyes drifted towards the two older men in the room did Katie notice two Adonises had been following in her wake: Matt and Joshua were seventeen years old going on eighteen and hailed from Salem High in the States. They were far better looking than any young man Katie had ever seen and she was sure she and every other girl in Hogwarts had already fallen in love with them. They were the guests of the Tristan twins in seventh year and seemed to have such an easygoing air about them that they would befriend anyone who tried.

Making a mental note to herself to give it a try later on Katie pulled herself from her trance and led Luisa across the room to where Leshia and Rachel were enjoying their free period in lieu of their midnight astronomy lesson to come tucked up in the window box. The two girls were nudging one another and whispering about the new arrivals when Katie suddenly materialised in front of them with her new friend and the latest addition to the fourth year Gryffindor girls.

"Guys!" Katie cleared her throat loudly drawing the sudden attention of her friends. Quickly Rachel and Leshia snapped their eyes onto the small girl stood beside their tall friend and in unison a big smile broke onto each of their faces. "Luisa," Katie began informatively while her friends jumped down from the window seat. "These are my best friends: my cousin Rachel and Leshia, that girl I was telling you about."

At being referred to as 'that girl' Leshia wrinkled her brow, but said nothing of it. Instead she held out her hand for the new girl to shake.

"Nice to meet you Luisa," Rachel offered cheerfully. "Whereabouts are you from?"

"Well I come from Ecuador, but my school is the Americas Institute," the small girl explained looking a little shy.

"Come on Luisa, let me show you round Gryffindor tower," Katie suddenly piped up and started leading the girl away towards the staircase. Rachel and Leshia let them go, but bowed their heads together the moment their friend and new guest disappeared.

"She's timid," Rachel mused aloud.

"Yeah that'll be perfect for Katie though, I mean when is Katie ever the bolshy one?"

"True. You're probably right. God knows Kate needs to lighten up and hang loose for once. Maybe if she's trying to be cool in front of this Luisa girl she might just be normal." Leshia was wrinkling her brow. "What?"

"Did you just say 'hang loose'?" Rachel's cheeks started reddening.

"No."

"Yeah you did! Rach who have you been talking to? You sound like a muggle film!"

"No I don't."

"You do know what 'hanging loose' means right?"

"Course I do! Look I heard Rodes saying it once. It sounded funny." Leshia sniggered and shook her head.

"Rodes is muggle born, the stuff he comes out with sometimes. Best not copy him though. I mean he gets away with it just about because he's hopeless, but…"

As though the boy's ears had been burning Rodeo suddenly materialised from the crowds with Parys and the attractive olive-skinned boy Rafael in tow. Leshia instantly fell silent and eyed the newcomer with interest.

"You guys look like you're up to something," the muggle-born boy remarked amusedly when he saw Rachel's bright red cheeks and the way the girl was looking at him.

"Just innocently chatting," Leshia replied happily.

"Yeah right, that'll be the day," Parys chuckled with an almost proud smile on his face as he turned to his new and attractive friend. "Guys this is Raffa, he's my new best friend."

The foreign boy laughed amusedly and nodded to the girls in greeting. After the arduous greetings had been disposed of and Katie had returned with Luisa from their tour of the tower the fourth years dropped down at the table around their window box to better get to know one another. Leshia couldn't stop smiling whenever this handsome Raffa boy looked at her, which he happened to do quite a lot meaning the girl seemed suddenly ditsy and slightly inebriated. Her friends knew what had her acting so silly and though Katie and Rachel were amused, Parys and Rodeo most certainly were not. Neither of them had contemplated the idea of Parys' partner being so good looking as to draw their female friends' attention away from themselves and now they were faced with the dilemma they weren't sure what to do about it.

Infinitely worse however, was the way in which every girl in the room was eyeing the two Salemers Matt and Joshua when they hoped the young men weren't looking. Leshia was better at hiding her attraction to the tall young men, but Katie at her side had no such finesse and was caught several times staring at them with her jaw hanging slightly.

The two Institute kids had plenty to share about their way of life and how it differed to what they had heard about Hogwarts. Their school sounded far less formal and their sleeping arrangements positively adult. At the Americas Institute the youngsters shared a two-person room in a boarding house complete with its own living room and kitchen facilities. Meals were held in these houses, of which there were ten, and for the rest they operated similarly to the four houses at Hogwarts. They in turn seemed amazed at the formality of Hogwarts, particularly the uniforms the natives wore and that they had been provided with for the duration of their stay.

Raffa and Luisa couldn't have differed more it seemed and though they were in the same year, they didn't know one another very well. They didn't share many classes and were in two separate houses, but in truth the reason they barely knew one another was the fact that they were very different people. Luisa was built along the same lines as Katie; she seemed studious, sweet, shy and tried to keep out of the limelight. Whereas Raffa appeared to be made of the same stuff as Leshia; he seemed bold, outgoing, humorous, up for a laugh and definitely the sort of boy who would flourish being the centre of attention.

Come dinner time the fourth years were already well acquainted with their new friends and happily led them down to the great hall, which seemed to have stretched to accommodate the extra pupils. The long tables surprised the newcomers, who had never seen such dining facilities before.

"And you eat all together?" Raffa asked unsurely while being led to the midpoint where the fourth years always gathered.

"Only every breakfast, lunch and dinner," Parys replied cheerfully.

"You will find it very different when you come to my school.

"Hey, as long as they serve good grub then you won't get any complaints out of me."

"What is this grub?" The boys dropped down onto the bench in a gale of laughter while opposite them the girls were too busy investigating the other newcomers to the school they had not seen yet.

"Check out that girl, she's gorgeous," Katie squeaked sounding pained while her finger tremulously pointed towards a striking girl who looked to have come from a sun-drenched country, as she was the colour of gold with white highlights to her blonde hair.

"I wonder which schools are participating in this thing anyway," Rachel spoke up as though she were voicing what everyone had been wondering: where did all these people come from?

"Honestly, the pair of you never pay attention," Katie grumbled when Leshia had nodded in agreement to Rachel's question. Two blank faces met her pointed one.

"And? Seeing as you're dying to tell us," Leshia smirked.

"The five participating schools are Hogwarts obviously, the Americas Institute, Salem High, Wallaby Academy and Beauxbatons."

"Agh that's no fun, I thought some of them came from places we'd never heard of. Like the North Pole or something," Rachel grumbled, while at her side Leshia piped up with,

"Or the moon!"

"You'll get used to them after a while," Katie sighed to her new friend. The visiting girl giggled happily into her hands. "They think they're ever so funny…"

"We are funny," Rachel countered loudly. "In a way."

Sensing an argument Leshia tuned out of the cousins' conversation and turned her attention instead on what the boys were telling Raffa. They were all looking up at the Head Table where all the teachers had gathered for the welcoming dinner when they would all be introduced to the newcomers. Professor Dumbledore had already welcomed them all when they first arrived and had no intention of making another speech. It was his intention not to disrupt every day life at Hogwarts as much as possible.

"That hook-nosed man there is one of the one's you've got to watch out for," Rodeo was telling Raffa in an undertone. "That's Snape that is and if he catches you out of line detention's a dead cert."

"And next to him's probably the teacher you've got to be the most careful around," Parys was now saying, oblivious to the fact that Leshia had started listening in to their conversation. He might not talk so bluntly about the teacher sat beside Snape had he known. "That's Professor Malfoy, he takes us for Defence Against the Dark Arts. He's a bit mental that one and absolutely terrifying. One toe out of line and he knows, even if he's not in the room. It's like he can read your mind or something. He used to be a Death Eater so you know he's capable of anything. You've got to watch what you say though because if Leesh catches you…" The three boys looked across the table and all noticed Leshia's cold grey eyes on them at the same time. Parys stumbled to an end of his sentence and grimaced.

"Because if Leesh catches you then what?" the girl asked slowly. Raffa seemed confused, while Rodeo and Parys fumbled for words.

"Do you like this teacher?" Raffa finally spoke; trying to fill in the gaps so that he might make sense of this new predicament his friends had landed themselves in.

"Something like that."

"He's her dad," Rodeo quickly explained.

"Leshia I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" Parys gabbled hopefully.

"It's fine. I know what everyone thinks about him." Though she sounded icy a small smile was growing on her face meaning the two young men were off the hook.

"So you are a teacher's daughter," Raffa remarked lightly.

"Well yeah, but…"

"Don't let that fool you mate," Parys quickly cut in. "Leesh here is as far from a teacher's pet as you can get."

"Yeah she's in detention more often than not and she never listens to a word any teacher ever tells her…"

"And she throws the most wicked underground parties that the teachers don't know about!"

"Guys cut it out," Leshia laughed, realising how badly the boys were flattering her to dig themselves out of the hole they had dug themselves into moments ago. "Flattery will get you nowhere."

"Yeah all right, but she is pretty cool though," Rodeo chuckled to Raffa, who was smiling broadly yet holding his tongue. Leshia it seemed had dominated the boys' attentions for too long and with a loud and obvious intrusion Katie opened the conversation up for the rest of the table, which it remained until Dumbledore stood to his feet moments after hundreds of empty plates disappeared from the tables. A hushed silence welcomed the headmaster to speak briefly,

"Don't be alarmed," the venerable old man chuckled fondly, his twinkling eyes roving over the new and familiar faces with equal affection. "I will not keep you long. I am well aware you all wish to return to your common rooms and keep the paintings up all night with your chatter, but before I allow you to do so please let me bestow another warm welcome to our visitors. Our home is yours while you stay with us, so please do not be afraid to treat it as such. Secondly, it is time to introduce the teachers who will be overseeing your studies while you are with us."

In quick succession Dumbledore called out the names and subjects of the teachers fanned around him. Leshia felt her cheeks grow hot when the visiting girls burst into giggles as her father's name was called out and quickly she hung her head. Last year she had been considered a pathological by the two quidditch-playing girls Leshia and her dormitory had hosted for the ISQT, who didn't believe the girl when she insisted the attractive teacher was her father.

"That's Leshia's dad," Katie whispered to the new girl Luisa, whose eyes darted onto the blonde girl the moment she was told and then back to the teacher at the head table. Seeing the similarity she spoke not a word, which brought a smile to Leshia's face, thankful that she wasn't going to have to offer any evidence of her connection to the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.

After little Professor Flitwick had been introduced Dumbledore bade the student body goodnight, giving them permission to file out in a scramble of benches and bodies being pushed this way and that. At the door to the great hall Leshia suddenly remembered the unpleasant predicament she and Rachel had landed themselves in.

"Uh Rach, Tripper?" the girl uttered to her redhead friend, who was all set on strolling up for a relaxed game of exploding chess and a chocolate frog.

"What do you mean with 'Tripper'?" Katie asked in a warning tone after Rachel had grumbled a furious expletive under her breath. "Did you two get a detention?" Leshia gave the girl a pointed look in response; no words were needed. "Oh my goodness. What did the pair of you do now?"

"It's Tripper," Rachel grumbled bitterly. "As if he needs an excuse to get Leshia in trouble."

"And you?"

"Maybe he doesn't like redheads?"

"This isn't funny Rachel."

"Who's laughing?"

The crowds were starting to go their separate ways and Katie could see Luisa eyeing the trio worriedly, no doubt expecting an argument to break out between them. Usually the raven-haired girl wouldn't have hesitated in letting her more wayward friends know how she felt about them landing themselves in trouble, but she wanted her guest's first night at the castle to be a night to remember.

"What's the hold up?" Parys' voice came moments before the three boys arrived on the scene.

"Katie's trying to tell us off for getting detention," Rachel explained drolly. "I bet she wishes _she _could give us detention. That's be right up your street wouldn't it Kate? Giving us detention for getting a detention?"

"Who's it with?" Rodeo asked while his friends laughed.

"Tripper, that's who," Katie stated icily, feeling annoyed with her cousin for making light of her concern. "So there's just cause for feeling a little alarmed. You watch your back Leesh okay?"

"I will," Leshia replied seriously, offering the taller girl a heartfelt look that conveyed what she hoped to be her gratitude. Katie was after all only concerned for their welfare, even if she had a funny was of showing it. The newcomers were looking confused.

"Tripper hates me," Leshia explained for their benefit.

"Positively loathes her actually," Rachel added with a smirk.

"Yes well you'd better get going then," Katie concluded, her brow contorted in worry. "We'll see you in astronomy. Look out for her okay Rachel?"

With this the two detainees rushed off so as not to land themselves in even more trouble. En route they pondered how much more serious Katie was getting with each passing year and wondered if by the end of their Hogwarts careers she would be filling in for one if not most of the teachers.

Tripper was waiting for them and thankfully set them the same task that Leshia and Julius Black had been set their first day back. This time though the teacher stayed and breathed down their necks, never sparing an opportunity to put Leshia in her place. His vicious attacks often left Rachel reeling, her fists clenched and her face set in upset, but Leshia stopped her best friend from doing anything stupid.

_You'll just make it worse,_ she wrote on a scrap of parchment.

_But he's being a complete git! _Rachel scribbled back furiously.

_Yeah well that I can deal with, but if you tick him off and he starts lobbing curses this way, I'm telling you now, I'm hiding behind you! _

XXX

Draco crept out of the grate as he materialised in the kitchen of the Malfoy townhouse. It wasn't excessively late, but Hermione was still in the habit of catching her sorely missed sleep whenever the baby went down, so more often than not the poor new mother was sleeping soundly by the time Draco came home from school every day.

Having spent a long portion of his adult life prowling the underground world of dark wizardry Draco had learnt to be stealthy and tiptoed across the kitchen to the base of the stairs without making a sound. When he reached them however, he saw his attempts at silence had been in vein as up above the light in the nursery was on.

"Hermione?" Draco called up the stairs cautiously.

"Up here darling!"

Taking the steps two at a time the man of the house appeared in the nursery moments later having to smile at the sight of his sleep-ruffled wife dressed in an overly large jumper cradling their baby daughter. Evie was smiling delightedly, finding immense pleasure in the expressions her mother had been pulling for her amusement.

"Having fun?" Draco chuckled and without hesitation he paced across the room and kissed his wife adoringly in greeting.

"She wouldn't sleep," the new mother yawned. "She's starting to get fussier, always demanding attention. Aren't you darling? You're becoming more and more like your big sister every day aren't you?"

"Well it must get pretty boring being a baby," Draco mused and after leaning down to stroke Evie's soft downy curls he dropped down in the chair beside his wife's. Without his having to ask Hermione quickly leaned over with her baby held out to her husband. With a broad smile Draco accepted the squirming infant and cradled her in his arms, his eyes never leaving her bright smile. He would have been content to watch her all night.

"You look exhausted," Hermione mused, noticing the dark circles under her husband's eyes while he played the game she had just been playing with their delighted baby.

"I am, I hate the start of term. I can never get going."

"Well it was a pretty exciting day though wasn't it? All those new pupils!" Draco chuckled at Hermione's enthusiasm.

"You sound like you wish you were back there teaching them all."

"I kind of do," Hermione sighed. "I miss it Draco, you know I do. How was Leshia today? Was she terribly upset still?" A pang of sadness entered the mother's voice and after tearing his eyes away from Evie's beautiful face Draco looked up to meet his wife's eyes, his own creased in remembrance over what had happened that morning.

"She was surprising actually."

"Surprising?"

"The essay was fine, Katie scourgified it just like you said. It was in today's lesson actually that she surprised me. They were using the Balancing Curse to work with basic modes of countercurse when all of a sudden that Jackson boy was on the floor. I've not seen such a powerful manifestation of the curse in a long time and what is maybe more alarming than it being cast by a fourteen-year-old is the fact that it was our fourteen-year-old who cast it." Hermione's eyes went wide and for a moment she looked afraid.

"But how?"

"That's the thing…I just don't know. 'Mione the boy, he actually heard her cast the spell as though she were speaking inside his head…"

"Our little girl performed _Oratio Mens_?"

For a moment there was silence, in which very slowly the baby in Draco's lap scrunched up her face ready to let out a tumultuous howl. Hermione's horrified outburst had more than startled little Evie. Quickly Draco pulled the baby to his chest and patted her back to soothe the tears, but try as he might he couldn't prevent her cries.

"Sorry," Hermione uttered through the wailing, though she continued to look shell shocked at the revelation that her daughter had performed advanced dark magic and a technique she ought not be able to master for many years yet and even then most wizards and witches weren't able to pull off direct mind-to-mind cursing. It was a feature of mind control associated with the Imperius Curse.

"Draco what is going on with our baby?" Hermione's eyes had gone very glassy.

"Nothing, she's just crying…"

"No not Evie. What is happening to my little girl?" Draco lifted his eyes to meet Hermione's crumpled expression and soon regretted it, because it made his heart ache to see his beloved wife so upset.

"Don't worry about Leshia," he assured her. "I'm watching her. I'm sure her being able to do the curse so well is because it's the one I used on her. She remembered how it felt and was able to use those negative emotions to enhance her own spell work. I'm pretty sure of it."

"But that's not good either Draco! It means she can't channel very well."

"Yes I know," Draco sighed and he patted Evie's back a little more to get the last of her half-hearted tears and whimpers out.

"If she's letting her emotions control her magic then she's going to become very unbalanced and volatile. Oh!" Hermione clapped her hands down on her knees, now seemingly annoyed. "Why won't she let me be her mother? She needs me!" Draco smiled as finally Evie let out one last hushed cry of annoyance, before he lifted the baby down again and rewarded her silence with an enormous smile, which she enjoyed thoroughly.

"Leshia will come round when she comes round," he told his wife through his smile. "That's what you've been telling me."

"Yes well the sooner the better in my book," Hermione grumbled. "I miss her so much it's as though a part of me has fallen off."

XXX

"Miss Weasley!"

Rachel's eyes shot open to find Professor Snape bearing down on her, a look of complete and utter disbelief on his unpleasant face. Her cauldron was bubbling over with a peculiar sludgy concoction she was sure oughtn't be there. How had that happened? She'd only shut her eyes for a second.

"What is the meaning of this?" Snape demanded as the ruined potion seeped onto his clean dungeon floor. Rachel gabbled for her words.

"I…um…I think…"

"You were asleep!"

"I was not!"

"Ten points from Gryffindor for your lies!"

"I think she was just concentrating really hard sir," Leshia piped up quickly. Snape's furious gaze slid onto the blonde girl at Rachel's side. "You know, she was having to focus on whether to put in the shrimp weed or the silver dust, so she had to shut everything else out."

"Miss Weasley can make up her own excuses without your help Miss Malfoy. Stay _out _of it!"

"But sir Rachel it's not Rachel's fault, I was meant to be telling her when to…"

"Very well, then the pair of you can stay after class and clear it up. A further five points from Gryffindor for wasting my time!"

After his back was turned Rachel made a very rude gesture that had Katie gasping in admonishment. The redhead though couldn't care less. She was exhausted after Tripper had kept to his word and made the two girls stay up most of the night classifying the rune stones. He'd been most put out that they had astronomy and demanded they return to finish their work after the lesson was complete. Forty minutes was about the only sleep Rachel had got last night and half of that was easily spent at the desk in Tripper's study when he wasn't looking.

Leshia was equally sleep deprived, but she was handling her fatigue far better. She was quite sure that it was the excitement of having Raffa in the class that was keeping her awake. Every time she glanced in his direction he was watching her and several times the pair had caught each other's gaze. Just thinking about the boy made Leshia's heart pound a little faster and she was quite sure she fancied him something chronic. It was a mutual attraction to say the least.

When the bell went signifying the end of classes Katie jumped to her feet with Luisa in a hesitant pursuit. She didn't look best pleased.

"I suppose you two are going to make an effort to get detention every day then?" Rachel and Leshia exchanged a smirk.

"What you don't think it's a good idea?" Leshia replied on their behalf eliciting a highly exasperated sigh from Katie, before the tall girl flounced from the room with Luisa running to catch up. "You know if she had detention more often she'd learn to love it as much as we do."

Rachel sniggered, but climbed to her feet to collect the mop nonetheless. By the time she returned Leshia was being berated by a highly bemused Snape. The hook-nosed teacher wasn't going to make life easy for the cheeky young ladies and delayed them considerably by making them repeat their work several times to get up to his high standards. By the time the best friends had escaped twenty minutes had gone by and they were itching to exert some energy.

"As if the floor in that dungeon _ever_ sparkles," Leshia grumbled. "I'd forgotten what a pillock Snape is."

"Yeah he's been pretty mild since we started sharing with the Ravenclaws, but still, he's obviously got a whole load of nastiness left to dish out."

"Maybe he saves it up for when he teaches us."

"I think we're reading into this too much Leesh," Rachel concluded within inches of the Fat Lady. "Snape's a git plain and simple, we just forgot temporarily because Tripper's an even bigger git and he's the one that's been telling us off lately."

"Pigswill," Leshia stated firmly.

"It is not!"

"It's the password you muppet," the blonde girl laughed as the portrait swung forward revealing a bustling common room. The friends had barely stepped inside when suddenly they were accosted by a sour-faced Katie; she obviously had something urgent to tell them.

"Oh Katie don't start, let us get in the bloody room first," Rachel grumbled.

"This isn't about you Rachel! This is about Leshia."

"Me? What did I do?"

"Mila's on a rampage, they've all gone down for training and she can't believe you've got yourself a detention."

"It's not a detention, I can train! Did you tell her I was in detention?"

"You'd better hurry up, they're all down on the pitch."

Without needing to be told twice Leshia sprinted up the spiral staircase and changed into her training gear. Five minutes was all she needed and before too long she was trying to squeeze through the general hubbub of the common room with her broom in tow. She'd nearly reached the door when suddenly two hulking figures stepped into the her path.

"Are you on the quidditch team?" Leshia felt her heart skip a beat as she slowly lifted her eyes up to meet those of the gorgeous American men. Was she mistaken? Were they really addressing her?

"Um yeah, I am," she finally managed, concentrating all her energy on keeping her tone neutral.

"Sorry, we overheard you earlier. Do you mind if we come watch?" the darker of the two asked hopefully. All Leshia could do was nod.

"Excellent," his friend cheered and he clapped his hands together. "We play back home for our county. It'll be interesting to see how differently you guys work over here."

Unable to think of anything productive to say – and not quite trusting her voice either – Leshia smiled at the young men and led the way out of the common room into the relatively quiet corridor beyond. Still no words came to her.

"So what do you play?" the blond one of the two asked curiously.

"Seeker." For a moment the Salemers looked to one another with a significant expression that Leshia couldn't read, though she hoped they weren't making fun of her.

"Did you play last year in the tournament?" the darker young man asked pressingly. Leshia wrinkled her brow and wondered what admitting to this true fact would mean for her present situation. What had the young men heard?

"Uh yeah I did actually." As though this was the answer the young men had been after they suddenly exploded into enthusiasm.

"Man we heard all about you!"

"Sounds ominous," Leshia managed cockily, finally finding herself able to push past her nerves and act as she normally would. She'd spoken to attractive young men before, why was this such a big deal? The way she had been feeling since the newcomers arrived, it was as though she'd been overdosing on hormones.

"I'm Joshua by the way," the young man with a mass of dark brown hair and large dark eyes finally introduced himself.

"And I'm Matt," his blond, hazel-eyed friend added. Both were tanned from living active lifestyles under a hot sun and both were so tall that Leshia had to crane her neck to look them in the eye.

"Leshia," she offered cheerfully.

"Yeah now I remember. Our buddy Jorge told us about you, said you put Petra Walsh in her place."

Leshia grimaced in remembrance of the awful girl she had finally beaten after enduring a few days of uncharacteristic cowardly behaviour in which the beautiful yet cruel Petra Walsh bullied her. She had finally got her own back, but not before the visiting Salemer had brought her down to a new low.

"How come you guys don't play for your school team?" the blonde girl asked curiously, before the young men could recount any other facts their friend Jorge had told them about her.

"County takes up so much of our time. We're both chasers so half the week we have drills and the other half it's all stamina training." Leshia raised her eyebrows.

"That sounds brutal. We only train twice or three times a week, more in the run up to a big game."

"Well from what Jorge told us, it doesn't sound like you need any more training. First thing he said to us after he got back was that he saw the next Viktor Krum in the making." Leshia's cheeks flushed horribly.

"Oh be serious," she laughed. With the ice well and truly broken Leshia managed to shift completely back to her usual laid-back self, enjoying the exciting stories these American men had to share about their experiences on the quidditch pitch. They certainly weren't lacking in enthusiasm and by the time Leshia had led them down to the quidditch pitch she was sorry to leave their side to head into the fray up in the air.

At the sight of the tardy seeker though Mila descended from her place at the centre of a complicated-looking drill to land a few yards from Leshia and the tall young men. Though the stern captain wanted nothing more than to quiz the small blonde girl about her behaviour, the presence of the gorgeous young men halted the words in her throat.

"Sorry I'm late," Leshia quickly offered. "Rachel fell asleep in potions so I had to jump in and save her neck. We only had to stay behind and clean the floor, that's all. It wasn't another detention I promise!"

"Malfoy I'm not trying to give you a hard time," the seventh-year captain uttered softly. "I really hate moaning on at you, I just wish you'd fit your detentions in around quidditch practice. I mean, in case you hadn't noticed, we sort of need you on form." Mila's eyes were now drifting to Matt and Joshua, who were tactfully trying not to listen in to the conversation.

"Oh, this is Matt and Joshua," Leshia quickly explained. "Guys this is Mila, she's our captain. They were just wondering if they could watch a few sessions. They play professionally back in America."

"Really? Professionally?" Mila uttered, unable to hide the fact that she was a little star struck by the young men.

"Well sorta, it's not really the same as over here. There's so many teams in the US, we're just at county level," Joshua quickly explained.

"Mila's boyfriend Luka plays for the Montrose Magpies," Leshia piped up when her older peers seemed to lull into a slightly embarrassed silence.

"Seriously? Aren't they one of the best teams in Britain?" Matt gasped. With a wicked smile Leshia slunk backwards until she had entirely left the vibrant conversation she had sparked into life. After mounting her broom she kicked off into the air and flew up to where the others were lounging around chatting in a big circle.

"Trying the fashionably late thing Malfoy?" Owen Gabriel asked cheerfully as Leshia floated up beside him. She grinned cockily at the boy and shrugged.

"Something like that."

"What strays did you manage to pick up now?" the boy asked cautiously, glancing down at the attractive young men on the pitch. Leshia sensed more than a little jealousy in the boy's tone and despite herself she laughed.

"That's Matt and Joshua from Salem, they heard me in the common room and wanted to tag along. They play for their county back home. They're all right, really easy going and talkative."

Owen raised one eyebrow in derision, but didn't say anything of it. That his favourite girl had shown up with two frightfully attractive older men in tow was a cause for concern to say the least.

"Not bad to look at either," Jaime Wood uttered under her breath. Leshia grinned broadly at her friend and shrugged her shoulders to show she agreed.

"Well I wish you hadn't brought them," Owen grumbled earning himself five surprised expressions from his team mates. "Well look at Mila going to pieces, it'll be ages before she can tear herself away and get on with the training. Some of us do have a social life we'd like to get back to you know!"

The prodigal keeper remained out of sorts for the rest of the training. When Mila did eventually return she seemed terribly invigorated and pushed her champion squad through their paces. Leshia rose to the challenge and dared herself to carry out braver and more suicidal moves than ever before in a mere training session due to the enthusiastic cheers and hoots she was receiving from the attractive young men down on the pitch.

When the girl's feet finally touched down on the grass at the end of the session she found herself ingratiated with praise and attention from the Salemers, who wouldn't stop singing the girl's praises the entire walk back to the castle. When they reached the fat lady Leshia was sure she could quite happily spend the rest of her life with Matt and Joshua and already a cheerful friendship had flourished between the two young men and the unlikely young seeker.

That night when Leshia fell asleep dreaming about quidditch glory in front of a stadium full of young men that closely resembled her new friends, the girl had to hand it to Fate, or whatever it was that had decided to make up for the terrible experience she had had with Salem High pupils last year.

"I think we're even now," she whispered into curtains of her bed moments before she drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face.

XXX

By midweek it felt as though the visiting pupils had always been at Hogwarts. Indeed, it was difficult for the natives to imagine a time when their new friends hadn't lived with them. Luisa and Katie had become thick as thieves, each finding in the other a kindred spirit. The bespectacled girl had taken to spending a lot of her time with her new friend at the expense of her old ones, who didn't seem to mind all that much considering they were enjoying a reprieve from the hard work Katie usually forced on them.

With little else to do with their bountiful free time Leshia and Rachel took to lazing about the common room with the boys. Though they wouldn't have thought twice about an afternoon rolling about the settees with good old Parys and Rodeo now that this new boy Raffa had attached himself to them both girls felt suddenly invigorated and quite beside themselves whenever the charming boy chose to speak to them.

To the best friends whose positions had been well and truly usurped Raffa's presence in their lives was bittersweet. Rodeo and Parys certainly got on very well with the rogue-like youngster from South America and the fascinating stories he had to tell about the escapades he and his four brothers got up to back home were spellbinding, but at the same time the friends wished their new friend weren't such a ladies man, but had the best friends thought one good-looking charismatic foreigner was bad enough, they were about to discover things could get much worse.

"Oh I bet you didn't set them _all_ on fire!" Leshia complained over the busy breakfast table that Wednesday morning. Her amused complaint was directed at Raffa sat across the table from her and for a moment the boy held his arms out, his expression surprised.

"You do not believe me?"

"No!" the others laughed in unison.

"Maybe you managed to get one of them to light up, but the whole barrel? And in the rain?" Rachel now spoke up, smiling adoringly at the visiting boy. For a moment Raffa looked from one girl to the next, his smile calculating and his eyes narrowed, until finally he leant back and glanced up the table.

"Fed!" he called out. Instinctively the Gryffindors sat around him followed his gaze to see the young man he had already pointed out to be his brother look up from his own conversation with the sixth years.

"Que?" the attractive young man called with a slight nod. Wordlessly Raffa summoned his brother with an urgent beckoning with his hand and then grinned back at his new friends when the older boy begrudgingly climbed to his feet and stepped over the bench.

"Now you will see," he told them amusedly.

"Yeah well off course your brother's gonna back you up," Parys complained amusedly. "What do you expect?"

Leshia and Rachel grinned to one another as the older boy approached. They had been waiting for an introduction to the smoulderingly attractive older version of their new friend. So far they had joined the rest of the school in admiring Federico from afar, but it would seem they were about to bridge the gap between being mere distant admirers to becoming actual real-life acquaintances.

Finally the heartthrob reached the fourth years and after sizing them all up, his eyes lingering a little longer on the girls grinning up at him in a star struck way, he turned his gaze on his younger brother.

"Yeah?"

"Tell them please about the night with the fire demons?" Raffa merely asked. For a moment Fed grinned broadly, before he looked to the fourth locals.

"You do not believe my brother?" he chuckled.

"In a word?" Rodeo asked cheerfully, before the rest of them chimed in with, "No." Fed's laughter was contagious and hearty and it made Leshia want to giggle.

"I am not surprised. Many do not believe his story, but I can assure you it is the truth. I saw it with my own eyes. They were all set on fire. Raffa still has scars."

"Scars?" Leshia demanded interestedly. Both brothers turned to smile at the curious blonde girl and despite herself she blushed and shrunk back a little. "I didn't mean to say that so loudly," the girl quickly excused herself with an impish smile.

"You did not show them the proof Raf?" Fed finally spoke sounding surprised. "Well no wonder they do not believe what you say. Show them." For a moment the younger brother seemed hesitant, before he leaned back, lifted his foot onto the bench and rolled his new uniform trousers up to show a peculiar star like scar pattern on his hairy and tanned upper shin.

"Wow," the boys awed appreciatively and eyed the foreigner with a look of evident approval.

"Man you've got to show us how you did it one of these days," Parys finally spoke. Raffa grinned and dropped his leg down onto the ground.

"Fed this is Parys," he then spoke, looking up at his brother while gripping Parys' shoulder. "He is my partner. And his friend Rodeo."

A round of handshakes followed before Raffa indicated across the table to the girls, who were doing everything in their power to keep the goofy smiles off their faces.

"And these are their friends Rachel and Leshia."

Without a word to the boys he pushed in between, Fed leaned over the table and shook first Rachel's hand and then Leshia's. What made the blonde girl blush bright crimson however, was the way Fed held onto her hand far longer than any of the others. Across the table both Rodeo and Parys fidgeted protectively, wanting to rip the older boy's arm back.

"It is very nice to meet you," Fed spoke charmingly directing his sentiment at the group, but maintaining Leshia's eye contact. Thankfully before the girl could quite voice any of the silly thoughts whirring round her mind the post owls flocked into the great hall in an enormous swarm. Though Leshia wasn't expecting anything she was surprised to find an enormous letter drop down on her thankfully dry toast. The owl that delivered the letter betrayed who had sent it.

"Hi Auralia," Leshia grumbled dryly and after grimacing in Rachel's direction the girl reached out and pulled the letter from its envelope. While she started to read she didn't even notice Fed making his exit:

_To my dearest Leshia,  
How are you my darling? I hope you're still enjoying being back at school and that you've enjoyed the influx of new people to charm. I suppose they've all fallen in love with you. Who could blame them?   
Life in London is lonely without you. Even though you were a mere shadow this summer, just knowing you were around gave me a great sense of peace of mind. I sometimes sit in your bedroom waiting for you to walk in the door, but of course, you never do. I can't wait for you to come home at Christmas time. I also often think with great sadness that this is probably how you felt when it became obvious that I wasn't coming home anymore all those years ago and I feel so guilty. I'm so sorry to have put you through such pain for so long Leshia._

Leshia wrinkled her brow feeling uncomfortable at her mother evidently pouring her heart out in her delicate script. With a heavy sigh she leafed through the pages skimming through the carefully articulated emotions until finally she came to a paragraph that caught her eye near the end of the emotional five page letter:

_ Your father tells me you performed a powerful spell in his lesson. I imagine you were pretty worried by it and to be honest when your father explained it I was scared for you darling, but I've been reading up on it all day. You don't have to worry about a thing. Apparently when people are exposed to a curse they become quite masterful at it themselves. Being able to experience the feelings and effects of a curse allows the victim to cast it far more effectively. So don't you worry about a thing. _('Who is she trying to convince?' Leshia thought to herself grimly.)  
_ Well then, I'd imagine I've probably made you late for your lessons by now. I'm sorry I've been a bit of a wet blanket; I just wanted you to know how much I miss you. My life's just not the same without you in it; regardless of the other changes that have taken place that's the bottom line Leshia and I need you to know that.  
I love you sweetheart and hope you're having a brilliant time.  
With lots of love  
Mum xxxxxx_

Leshia sighed heavily and folded the letter to hide it from her view. The others noticed her discomfort, but said nothing of it. Only Raffa was frowning, wanting to ask who had sent her such a heavy letter, but before he could speak Rodeo grabbed his shoulder and shook his head.

"No," he mouthed urgently. After a heavy sigh Leshia looked up to see her friends determinedly looking the other way and knew instantly they'd all been watching her.

"I'm okay," she informed them sounding false. "You don't have to act like someone's died or anything…" The girl trailed off, her eyes falling on the Daily Prophet lying at her side. Instantly they doubled in size and without asking Katie's permission, who was in the middle of reading the paper she was subscribed to, the blonde girl wrenched the paper into her hands and read the article that had caught her eye with a hungry desperation.

"Oy!" Katie complained the moment the paper was ripped from under her eyes. "Leesh!"

"Sorry!" Leshia offered distantly, too involved in the article to care that everyone was staring at her in surprise. Only once she had reread the piece twice over did she drop the paper onto the table revealing what had caught her eye to her friends.

"Oh man, is that your grandfather?" Rodeo uttered in surprise. Leshia nodded slowly.

"It says he's been sited," she explained. "In Belgium."

"But that's really close!" Rachel stuttered unsurely. "Leesh you should tell your dad about this."

"Oh come on, my dad probably knew about this ages before it was printed." Across the table Raffa's brow was lowering over his eyes the further he got down the article. The moment he was finished he lifted his eyes from the grisly picture of Lucius Malfoy taken during his time in Azkaban to the Death Eater's granddaughter, who bore more than a passing resemblance to the old man.

"This is your grandfather?" he finally asked, his tone unreadable. Leshia slowly lifted her eyes to meet his and then nodded.

"Unfortunately and only then on a technicality." Raffa furrowed his brow, not quite understanding the girl. "Well I mean he's not really family. The only times I've met him he's either been trying to kill me or abduct me. He's not the lovable kind of grandfather."

Despite the gravity of the moment Raffa sniggered and nodded.

"I understand." The way he looked at her suggested to Leshia that yes, Raffa did understand and for a moment she smiled gratefully at the boy.

"You know what?" Leshia suddenly spoke. "I'm going to keep a scrapbook of these. Katie do you mind if I rip this article out?"

"Um, no I don't, but Leesh I don't think that's such a good idea."

"What? Why not?" Already the blonde girl had started removing the article on her grandfather from the newspaper.

"Well if you get caught it'll look like you're trying to find him or something."

For a moment Leshia paused and stared gravely at her friend.

"I _am_ trying to find him," she finally spoke seriously. "Katie that man tortured me and then tried to kill me. He won't rest till everyone in my family's dead and buried. So don't look so horrified that I want to see him caught and locked up."

"Leesh think about it," Rachel now piped up worriedly.

"I don't want to think about it actually," Leshia quickly countered and with the article removed from the paper she roughly stuffed it inside her satchel and climbed to her feet. "Now if you don't mind, I've got an hour's History of Magic to nap through."

XXX

Draco wasn't having a good day. Evie had come down with a fever and a cough and was evidently very displeased about her condition, as she had spent the night screaming at the top of her little lungs ensuring neither Draco or Hermione got a wink's sleep. The poor man was exhausted and had spent most of the morning grappling with his two seventh year classes in an attempt to engage them in the difficult lesson he was trying to teach them.

At break he had somehow found himself trapped between the two battiest Hogwarts teachers of all: Professor Sinistra and Professor Trelawney. It took the tired teacher fifteen minutes to escape their midst finding himself instead sat alone in the corner with his head in his hand. The last thing he wanted was to be disturbed,

"Malfoy."

A heavy and irritated sigh escaped Draco before he slowly lifted his gaze to glare at Silas Tripper.

"Go away," the blond man growled unceremoniously, not caring that he was reacting to Tripper's presence in exactly the way the slimy man had hoped.

"Bad mood Malfoy?"

"Tripper I don't have time for these little games you love to play. So please, bugger off okay?" The smile on the scarred man's face grew showing off all of his discoloured teeth.

"I wonder if _this_ has anything to do with your temper." Draco glanced down at the newspaper Tripper had dropped on the table in front of him and fought back a furious grimace. There, staring back at him was the gaunt face of his father Lucius Malfoy. "Afraid he's going to get caught are you?"

"You think this is news to me Tripper?" the blond man demanded dangerously while he took to his feet to meet his old nemesis eye to eye. "You may get your information out of the local rag, but there are those of us with our ear to the ground who have more informed and reliable sources. This account is a false alarm and it's already been investigated."

Tripper shifted uncomfortably for a moment, his eyes narrowing in dislike at the attractive man opposite him.

"You're lying."

"Ask Crayik if you don't believe me!" Draco growled exasperatedly.

"Then why…"

"My child is sick and has been crying all night. The last thing I need right now is more pitiful whining from a grown man who's failed to do his research before attempting once more to wind me up. God Tripper you're pathetic…"

"Gentlemen!"

Both Draco and Tripper turned sharply to find Professor McGonagall staring at them with wide eyes while behind her the teaching staff of Hogwarts were watching them nervously, as though they had expected the two hotheads to pull out their wands and burst into a duel right then and there.

"The pair of you are going to have to find a way to get along that does not involve turning the staff room into the school playground every week."

"I'm sorry Minerva," Draco offered the shrewd woman quickly and for what it was worth, his apology sounded heartfelt. "It won't happen again."

Any further justification Draco wasn't inclined to offer and without a word to his colleagues he stalked out of the room in time to the bell ringing in the distance, signifying the end of break. He had the fourth year Gryffindors and Slytherins next and it was this thought and this thought alone that was preventing Draco from flooing home and climbing into bed; nothing could stop him from seeing Leshia, nothing. These days he only had three hours a week with his daughter where once they'd been inseparable. Even if his foot were to suddenly fall off Draco would make it to his daughter's lesson.

Heavy chatter filled Draco's ears as he rounded the corner leading onto the Defence Against the Dark Arts corridor. He heard only joyous voices and despite himself the tired teacher smiled with relief. It was always hit and miss with this class whether he would find them happily engaged in conversation or at one another throats.

At the sound of the approaching teacher the youngsters in the corridor jumped into line, the locals informing their guests about the 'shirt situation'. Raffa and Luisa had both been reminded of Leshia's relationship to their teacher by their new friends and as such knew better than to express their initial thoughts on the terrifying man that approached them out loud.

Draco Malfoy was a terrifying person to behold and tired as he was the danger that surrounded him was palpable. It took them a while to realise it, but both Raffa and Luisa had heard of this man, this reformed Death Eater, who had helped bring about the fall of the Dark Lord and where they had expected to find him heroic, they were surprised to find he was far from the comforting and graceful man they had imagined. They could still see in the moody man approaching them the Death Eater he had once been and both newcomers instantly looked down to his covered arm where the mark lay faded and scarred.

At the door Draco stopped and glanced up and down the row of pupils, noting the new faces with interest. For a moment he paused on Leshia's curious face and noticed that she was wondering why he appeared so dishevelled and out of sorts. The fact that she was paying him attention rather than turning away disinterestedly brought a small smile to the tired father's face and this gave him the energy to wrench the door open and stand back with his usual dichotic bravado.

This energy carried him through the smooth lesson and by the end of it Draco felt somewhat restored. What's more, after the bell had gone and the youngsters had all but filed out he had looked up to find Leshia lingering at the door, her brow furrowed in worry. The words, "Are you alright?" had very nearly tumbled from her mouth and what's more, her father knew it. The girl though soon realised she was crossing the boundary between indifferent pupil and concerned daughter, so quickly she hurried from the room to catch up with her friends, leaving her father with a small smile on his face.

XXX

Leshia, Rachel, Parys, Rodeo and Raffa all sat in a row in the large classroom on the second floor and stared incredulously at Madam Hooch and Professor McGonagall. At their side Katie however, was donning an enormous smile that had evidently been transferred to Luisa and the other girls perched delicately on the bench. The time for ballroom dancing had finally come.

"This is not cool," Rachel whispered in Leshia's ear, who nodded very slowly.

"Definitely not cool," she agreed.

"Who would have thought Katie would actually be right about something?" Despite her mood Leshia sniggered loudly, earning her a stern glare from Professor McGonagall, who was in the middle of demonstrating the basic steps of a Waltz.

"Miss Malfoy do you have anything to add?" the tall woman demanded reproachfully. The eyes of everyone in the year fell on Leshia, who quickly shook her head.

"No Professor," the blonde girl called out sincerely.

"Very well. In that case perhaps you would like to demonstrate to the class what I have been attempting to describe?"

For a moment Leshia's eyes went wide and she shook her head while her mouth opened and closed wordlessly.

"Come along we don't have all day."

"On your feet Leesh," Rachel whispered sounding quite beside herself with glee and when it seemed unlikely that the blonde girl was about to make a move she jabbed her fingers into her best friend's side sending the girl flying to her feet.

"Excellent. Now then, you will need a partner."

Leshia's cheeks, had they not been red enough to begin with now grew positively scarlet. The girl was frozen to the spot while their teacher's eyes roved over the young men of the year group, who for the most part had started posturing themselves forward as a possible partner for the most popular girl in the year.

"Mr Holsson, if you wouldn't mind," McGonagall finally decided. Hiding his smile well Rodeo was on his feet within moments with Leshia hurrying to his side. Rodeo was a far better choice than some of the alternatives; in fact Leshia had been worriedly eyeing Samuel, her Herbology partner, who had been growing keener with each passing lesson in Greenhouse Two, the boy had sat up so straight he was hovering several inches above the bench in an effort to be picked.

Once the youngsters had reached their teacher's side they soon found themselves suppressing their sniggers while McGonagall manoeuvred them into position and instructed them on how to demonstrate to their classmates the correct moves. Leshia couldn't keep a straight face and every time she met Rodeo's eyes the pair nearly cracked up in mirth.

"Excellent!" McGonagall called out before she turned on the rest of the year. "Now then, the rest of you arrange yourself into partners and be quick about it. We have a lot to get through."

"This is the most pointless thing they've ever taught us," Leshia whispered to her partner while their peers broke into chatter and movement. Rodeo grinned dashingly and shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey, if it means I get a dance with the fittest girl in the year then I'm not complaining," he joked. Leshia laughed delightedly and stepped firmly on her friend's foot. "Even if she does have two left feet."

Across the hall Katie watched Rodeo and Leshia from afar with a slight scowl on her pretty features. She had already collared the next best thing to Rodeo in the form of Raffa and was manoeuvring him nearer to the couple she couldn't take her eyes off. Though Raffa didn't mind dancing with the beautiful girl, he could tell her mind was elsewhere and therefore refrained from attempting to engage her in too much conversation. He had noticed his dancing partner watching his new friend from afar many times over the last couple of days and wondered at the history that lay there. Parys hadn't explained it to him very well; only divulging the pair had been an item at some point in the past.

While the youngsters danced to the music there were those who took it very seriously and those who felt it their God-given right to make mischief wherever they could. Leshia and Rodeo were amongst the latter group and though they were able to pull off the dancing steps to perfection, they couldn't do so with straight face. What didn't help was that Rachel and Parys, a pair that also fell into the latter group of pupils, quickly moved themselves nearer to their best friends and engaged them in a battle of who could ram into who the hardest and knock the other off their feet.

"Rodes! You've got to remember I'm like half your height!" Leshia laughed when her partner nearly wrenched her arms out of her sockets in an attempt to get Parys onto the floor.

"Sorry shorty," her friend offered cheerfully. "I often forget see? I mean you're very loud for such a small person."

"Uh! The cheek!" Leshia cried out and stomped once more on the boy's foot. Rodeo laughed and quickly hopped onto his other foot for a moment to shake the pain out of his injured one. "Not so little now am I?"

"Didn't feel a thing. What damage do you think those tiny little feet are going to inflict?" Leshia's jaw dropped humorously and quickly she attempted to stamp once more on her friend's feet, but Rodeo was prepared and quickly abused his hold he had on the girl to grapple her into a tickling body lock that she couldn't escape from.

"Rodes! This isn't fair!"

"Stop that this instant!"

Leshia's laugher had evidently been too loud and had drawn the scrupulous attention of Professor McGonagall who stood now, hands on her hips and a massively bemused expression on her tight face.

"Evidently the pair of you can't work together. I'm going to have to swap you." Surprisingly Leshia's smile fell at this turn of events and she caught Rodeo's eye seeing he felt equally as disappointed. McGonagall was scouring the nearby couples for a replacement pair. She quickly passed over the smirking faces of Rachel and Parys to find a more suitable couple, which she did within moments. "Ah yes, Miss Potter, would you please swap with Miss Malfoy?"

While the raven-haired and blonde girl swapped partners Rachel and Parys glanced to one another gravely. They could sense the significance of the swap even if McGonagall couldn't. That Katie was over the moon and Rodeo suddenly uncomfortable was evident to the two close friends and with a foreboding look they got back to their dance at the teacher's instruction.

Leshia meanwhile found herself stood before the devilishly attractive foreign boy, feeling suddenly shy and unsure of herself. For Raffa there was no such insecurity and with a self-assured ease he held his hand out to the girl. Leshia placed her own hand delicately in his and felt a shiver run up her spine as his other hand gently fell on her waist.

"Do they make you do this sort of rubbish at the Institute?" the girl asked with a nervous laugh, as the pair started dancing perfectly in time with one another. Raffa regarded his partner for a moment with a curious smile before finally he shook his head.

"No they do not. Is this not fun to you?" For a moment Leshia rolled her eyes and sniggered.

"Not really, no. Why are you having a great time then?"

"When I find myself dancing with the most beautiful girl in the room I cannot complain I think." Leshia met the boy's hazel eyes and forgot for a moment where they were and what they were doing.

"Are you always such a smooth talker?" she asked amusedly. Raffa grinned charmingly and shook his head.

"I am sorry," he offered amusedly and for a moment Leshia caught his eye before they both laughed.

"I hate being judged by how I look," Leshia explained after the pair of teenagers had gathered themselves.

"You think it is a bad thing?"

"Definitely. Pretty girls, and I'm not trying to say I'm pretty, but pretty girls aren't the sort of people who play dirty at quidditch, or who sneak out after curfew to throw parties, or who get themselves kicked out of lessons. And I'm not saying that I do all that stuff either, I just hate it that whenever I do step out of line people always seem shocked by it."

"Maybe they are shocked because your father is a teacher?"

"Well that's also true. My mum used to be a teacher here too you know and she was exactly what you expect a teacher to be."

"Your mother is Senorita Westcoast no?" Leshia wrinkled her brow curiously. "Luisa tells me."

"Oh right. Yeah she's my mum, only she's called Hermione Granger-Malfoy now."

"Your mother was a very nice lady," Raffa said kindly. "I can see now why you are you beautiful…"

"Raffa!" Leshia warned fondly.

"Okay, okay. I am sorry, but I cannot lie okay?" For a moment Leshia narrowed her eyes up at the boy amusedly, wondering what she was going to do about this boy who was evidently flirting with her. He was very handsome and charming and would be gone before she knew it so where was the harm? But flirting…how on earth did one consciously make the effort to flirt?

"If you say anything soppy like that again I'll have to tickle you," the girl warned, turning to the only device she had at her fingertips, quite literally, and that was physical impropriety.

"What does this tickle mean?" the boy asked with a frown and soon regretted it when his dancing partner's sharp fingers dug into his sides making him writhe with laughter.

Even after Leshia had been swapped to her third partner with a warning that any more high jinks would lead to her being expulsed from the room, the pair still caught one another's eye across the dance floor and though Leshia was aware of the fact that she was behaving a little out of character, she couldn't help but love the thrill of it all. She'd been acting out of character all summer, why stop now?

XXX

The Three Broomsticks was packed full of cheery Hogwarts pupils that brisk Saturday afternoon. It had come as a treat to the pupils and guests of Hogwarts that a trip to Hogsmeade was scheduled for that very weekend and as such the youngsters had enjoyed a fun-filled morning showing the newcomers to the castle round Britain's only all-magic community.

Raffa and Luisa had been shown to every sight the village had to offer from the Shrieking Shack to the Owlery and even Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes which they had stumbled out of with their satchels bursting full of treats. After all that rushing around the fourth years had decided that a cold butterbeer was in order and had managed to squeeze themselves into the pub and commandeer a booth. It was a tight squeeze, but nobody seemed to mind.

The moment everyone had got themselves settled in Leshia had jumped to her feet stating the first round was on her. Within moments Raffa had joined her leaving the others watching after the suddenly intimate twosome as they squeezed up against one another at the bar.

"Does anyone else think that Leesh is acting a little strange?" Rachel finally posed to the group after everyone had mulled this turn of events over in their heads. Rodeo and Parys quickly nodded.

"Very strange!"

"She's acting like a different person," Rodeo grumbled, while across the table Katie was shaking her head firmly.

"Would you listen to yourselves?" she demanded.

"What you don't think she's acting out of character?" Rachel countered hotly, wanting more than ever for her clever cousin to take her side so that she might think of a way to rectify the situation.

"No, I think she's just having a good time that's all."

"Kate she's going after boys left right and centre. That's _not_ Leesh."

"Rachel's right, she's not been herself all week. Maybe we should say something?" Parys suggested.

"Now hold it right there," Katie suddenly stated authoritatively. "Leshia's just letting her hair down so leave her alone! She's had a really hard summer. If she wants to go after this guy then just let her. You all sound jealous." Though her insult had been aimed at the group at large her green eyes had pierced Rodeo's coldly while she said it making her sentiments clear.

"Jealous?" Rachel demanded. "Katie I couldn't give a toss about Raffa. No offence or anything, but I really don't care that much. What I do care about is that Leshia's suddenly hanging round with all these strange guys and she doesn't even realise how…well how easy she looks."

By the time Leshia returned with the drinks she was surprised to see she had obviously broken up an argument. The girl though, didn't try to decipher what had happened between her friends choosing instead to carry on her animated discussion with her new friend.

The others stayed out of sorts the rest of the afternoon and still Leshia didn't question what their argument had been about. It was almost as though she didn't care and later on that evening when she and Rachel ambled up to bed ahead of the others to work on their Potions homework her friend called her on it.

"Been in your own little world today have you?" Rachel remarked casually to the blonde girl on their way up the spiral stairs. Leshia frowned heavily at her best friend and shook her head.

"I don't know what you mean?"

"I think you do. Don't you care what we were all talking about while you were at the bar?" Leshia's brow was darkening, but slowly she shook her head.

"I couldn't care less actually. I don't want any part in your arguments."

"It was about you."

By now the girls had reached their dormitory where Leshia stopped in her tracks and narrowed her eyes at her dear friend.

"What do you mean it was about me?"

"Leesh we're…"

"No! You have no right to go talking about me behind my back Rach! Seriously I thought you were better than that." The blonde girl seemed genuinely hurt and confused, though her legendary Malfoy temper could be seen bubbling beneath the surface. Rachel knew she'd have to tread carefully.

"I'm really worried about you. You've not been acting like yourself all week and…"

"So? I'm not hurting anyone am I?" Thinking back to the looks on Parys and Rodeo's faces at the bar Rachel carried on,

"You've been spending a lot of time with the new boys Leesh and…"

"Rachel are you serious?" Leshia demanded incredulously. "Please tell me you're not going to give me this speech. You sound like my dad!"

"Yeah well someone has to seeing as you've all but cut _him_ out of your life." The words fell out of Rachel's mouth before she'd really thought them through, but once they were out there she couldn't very well claw them back in. Leshia looked as though she'd been struck.

"I can't believe you just said that."

An awkward silence passed in which the best friends stared one another in the eye, unsure of what to do with the painful emotions coursing through them. They couldn't remember a time they'd had a serious fight and weren't sure what to do now they found themselves in one.

"Leesh I just want the old you back…"

"This _is_ the real me!" Leshia cried out angrily. "And if you don't like what you see then you can bugger off and not be my friend anymore!"

With this the argument was finished as abruptly as it had started and after glaring tearfully at the redhead girl Leshia stormed across the dormitory and enclosed herself in the curtains of her four-poster. For a moment Rachel hovered feeling such anxiety that she longed to run over to her friend and apologise till she was blue in the face, but something stopped her and very slowly she backed out of the dormitory and back down the stairs. She couldn't quite make it all the way and dropped down instead on the mezzanine level beside the railing so that she could look out onto the joyous common room.

What had just happened? She and Leshia _never_ fought. Why couldn't she have just kept her big mouth shut?

Running footsteps sounded in the stairwell and moments later a figure darted past and up the boys stairwell. The footsteps promptly came to a halt and after only a few seconds a cheery face popped into Rachel's eye line.

"Rach? What are you doing?" Parys asked curiously, while he made himself comfortable opposite the girl on the floor. His large eyes seemed concerned. "I thought you and Leshia went up to bed."

"We did, but then we had a fight."

"Oh right. About what?"

"I told her I thought she wasn't acting like herself and she took it so personally." Rachel hugged herself stiffly, feeling ashamed that her eyes were going glassy in front of Parys.

"Oh," the boy sighed and after a moment's hesitation he shuffled over to Rachel's side and pulled her into the crook of his arm. A few tears spilled onto the girl's freckled cheeks, which she rubbed furiously at.

"She seemed to angry that we were talking about her, like we haven't got a right to feel worried about her. She's going it on her own Parys."

"Leshia's in a rough place right now Rach. She's been through a lot and I can understand why she's acting crazy, but that doesn't mean she can treat us like crap…"

"She's not treating us like crap," Rachel grumbled half-heartedly.

"Well no, not quite, but I kinda think she might start soon if she continues the way she's going."

Rachel hung her head and brushed away at more tears that fell.

"We've just got to help her through it," the boy said wisely. "I mean that's what friends are for right?"

"I just hate to see her messing everything up for herself you know? She's shooting herself in the foot! And she's just so damn stubborn…" Rachel trailed off and buried her face in her knees. For a moment Parys stared at her uneasily while her shoulders trembled, before he wrapped his other arm around her and hugged the girl firmly.

"Leshia's lucky to have you Rachel, she really is. And if she doesn't see that then she's a blind little midget."

"Parys!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

End of Part IV

Sorry it's been a while. My course is insanely busy; I keep coming back to his though. I will finish this series. I care too much about the characters to leave them in limbo. Lots of new names and just setting the scene now for some action to take place. Bit slow up till now, but it will get better I promise :)

Give me a yell if you're still with me!!!!!


	5. Part Five

**Generations: Rebel Inside**

**Part V**

A week passed and then another. Rachel's words must have struck a chord with her best friend, who shifted, if only for a little while, into a semblance of the old Leshia. The trio of friends settled easily and painlessly into the slightly altered swing of the castle now so many new people had joined its ranks. Katie's continuing distance from her best friends and her constant involvement with Luisa remained a point of contention with the other two, but the fact that they still had one another and their homework sabbatical lessened their discomfort at having one third of their number distanced from them.

Autumn, which had seemed such a distant threat to the sun kissed pupils of Hogwarts began creeping in and before they knew it the green leaves outside their windows started changing. And with the changing season came the shocking cold northern winds, keeping the more health-conscious members of the student-body indoors while their less weather-wary friends caught head colds in the freezing winds. Leshia's commitment to her quidditch side saw her come down with just such a cold, but go down easily the girl most certainly did not.

Having battled through a miserable week Leshia was happy Friday had finally arrived, but over breakfast she hung her head over her cereal her eyes red and her ears too clogged up to allow her to hear straight. Rachel's attempts to send the girl to the hospital wing were met with a frosty and stubborn silence, so she eventually gave up and found herself in an amusing cornflake flicking competition with Parys, who was sat opposite her.

"Ooh!" Rachel suddenly cried out triumphantly. "And Weasley scores _again_! Young Miss Jackson just can't seem to catch up ladies and gentlemen."

"Oy!" the boy laughed heartily and flicked a well-aimed shot straight between the redhead's eyes. "Watch who you're calling a girl you girl!"

"Bet you wish you were as good as me."

"Yeah yeah, I lie in bed at night wishing I were like you Rach."

"Admitting you have a problem is the first step in overcoming it." The cocky smile on Rachel's face soon morphed into a surprised one when the cornflake Parys had just launched at her landed directly in her open mouth. "Wow!" she managed while crunched on the cereal. "That was amazing! Here, do it again!"

With her mouth hanging open Parys resorted to firing cornflake after cornflake in Rachel's general direction to the amusement of the rest of the table. Only one person failed to enjoy the antics of her friends and that was Leshia, who, head hanging and all, was only really able to enjoy the pattern the honey nut clusters in her bowl were forming in the milk. Had she been more inclined to believe in the rubbish Professor Trelawney spouted to them on a weekly basis then she might have felt her skin crawl at the ominous shapes she was drawing out of the mushy cereal.

Quite suddenly the bowl disappeared from sight leaving instead in its place a delicately scripted message on an official looking strip of parchment. The others were all climbing to their feet to head off to their first lesson of the day, but Leshia remained glued to the spot staring at the letter in front of her;

Dear Miss Malfoy 

_I would very much appreciate an audience with you in my study at lunchtime. Do bring your friends if they wish to accompany you._

_I will look forward to meeting with you,_

_Yours truly,_

_Professor Dumbledore_

Several times the girl reread the letter, trying to fathom what on earth she could have done that warranted a special hearing with the headmaster. When her heart started beating at twice its usual pace Leshia looked up with wide eyes to find the teachers' table clearing. The headmaster was nowhere to be found.

"Come on Leesh, we'll be late for Divination!" With a jolt of surprise Leshia looked up into the curious face of her best friend. She hesitated too long and after frowning heavily Rachel caught sight of the note on the table.

"Hey what's that?"

"Dumbledore wants to see me at lunch time."

"Why?"

"Doesn't say." Leshia quickly held the note out for her friend to examine and felt slightly dismayed at the way Rachel's auburn eyebrows drew further and further in until they were practically touching in the middle in a deep set frown.

"I'm not going to lie to you, that doesn't sound good." The school bell rang out from the entrance hall startling both girls and after a moment's hesitation Leshia scrambled to her feet and headed in the direction of Firenze's classroom for their Divination lesson.

"I wish they'd teach us something worthwhile. Like how to predict whether you're about to get expelled or not," Leshia grumbled in a near impossible to understand nasally voice. When Katie found out about the note she took a more hysterical point of view and started preparing Leshia for every eventuality. By the time lunch crawled round the girl had been coached on every subject from why she'd defaced one of the bathroom stall doors with 'Silas Tripper smells like sewage' to why she'd been consistently scoring no higher than a D in her Ancient Runes lesson.

Rachel and Katie were of course more than happy to join their friend on her walk of shame up to the headmaster's study where they stood shoulder to shoulder with the girl while she faced the wizened old wizard sat at his desk. Albus Dumbledore had never looked so old the girls all felt, but behind his mask of wrinkles and wisdom the old man wore a twinkling smile. He didn't seem mad, which to Leshia came as an enormous relief. Surely if he was about to expel her from the castle he would have to appear a little peeved? And why would he have suggested she bring along her friends? To enjoy the show maybe?

"Good afternoon girls," Dumbledore greeted the fourth years after he had leant back in his chair, nudging his half-moon spectacles onto the tip of his nose. "Thank you for arriving so promptly."

Quickly Leshia nodded, hoping to convey to the old headmaster that he skip past the pleasantries and get right to the point. Dumbledore, being not only a very wise wizard, but also a perceptive man spotted the girl's impatience immediately and allowed a broad smile to light up his ageing face.

"You need not alarm yourself Miss Malfoy, I have not asked you here to tell you off or interrogate you. I have asked you here to ask you a favour."

The relief that poured from the Malfoy girl was evident, as quite suddenly her small stiff shoulders drooped and a smile jumped onto her face. At her sides Rachel and Katie seemed almost as happy at this news as their friend; in truth neither had known what to think of this situation, but were very sure that Leshia was in trouble one way or another.

"A favour sir?"

"Indeed. It has come to my attention that our annual upper years Halloween ball has been suffering from very poor attendance in recent years. Word has it the absentees have more pressing party arrangements to get to at the expense of our lavish plans in the great hall. I don't suppose you know what I'm talking about?" The headmaster's smile was positively mischievous Leshia thought to herself, but predictably she shook her head in response to his question.

"I haven't got a clue sir."

"No I didn't think you would. However, I have it on very good authority that where parties are concerned the school body seem to consider you the local expert. I have been assured that should I get you on side to plan the Halloween Ball we would find the hall filled with party goers, which as you can imagine would go down very well with our new guests."

Leshia's brow dipped while a million and one thoughts whirred round her mind. Dumbledore was asking her to plan the Halloween Ball…it was unexpected to say the least. The headmaster's blue twinkling eyes seemed narrowed, as though trying to read the blonde girl's mind while she thought his proposal over. He had replayed this conversation over in his head in countless different ways, but just how the unreadable and unpredictable girl was going to respond was still a mystery to the venerable and powerful wizard.

"What exactly would you want me to do?" Leshia finally asked calculatingly, while at her sides her friends stared at her with wide eyes. Why wasn't she automatically accepting this massive honour and running from the room to start the preparations?

"You would become the Hogwarts official Party Planner Miss Malfoy. It would of course involve other celebrations down the line should you live up to your reputation at Halloween."

Katie started bouncing up and down excitement; oh the possibilities! Jealousy didn't even enter her mind, all she wanted was for Leshia to say yes. How could the girl refuse such an opportunity? Balls, dances, discos…the possibilities were endless. Her friend was being handed Hogwarts social agenda on a plate! For the longest time Leshia chewed on the insides of her cheeks, well aware of what her friends were thinking and equally well aware of what they wanted her to do.

"Sir," she spoke eventually, sounding slightly gravelly. "I don't really know why you've come to me about this. I mean it's a great honour to be offered this opportunity, but I think you're going to have to find someone else. I wouldn't know where to begin."

Katie's jaw dropped and she wheeled on Leshia while on the girl's other side Rachel elicited a tiny squeak and looked at the ceiling in frustration. All the while the blonde girl held Dumbledore's eye with a frighteningly cool gaze. In this frame of mind she feared no one and had finally reached that stage in her life where lying straight to the face of the most powerful wizard in the world didn't faze her. This was more than concerning to the headmaster, who shook his head gravely.

"So you are declining my offer?" he finally asked slowly. The twinkle in his eye had gone. "You are sure?" Leshia paused and then nodded.

"Sorry sir, it's just not for me."

Dumbledore sighed heavily and leant back in his chair, before he looked to the girls either side of their ringleader. He had hoped their presence and the fact that their choice coincided with his would sway the headstrong girl into making the right decision, but evidently this bluff hadn't paid off.

"You do not wish to discuss it with your friends?" Leshia hung her head a little and glanced at her furious friends, before she turned back on the headmaster with a shrug.

"You're asking me though aren't you? And I don't think I could do it."

Any further explanation the headmaster wasn't going to receive, so after a moment he pressed his fingertips together in front of his wiry beard in a steeple, tapping them meditatively against his lower lip. What more could he do? The Malfoy girl had to walk her own path, he could not intervene any more than he already had. In all his days as the headmaster of Hogwarts Dumbledore could only think of a handful of pupils who had surprised him as much as Alecia Malfoy. She was an entity like no other and she was a great cause of concern for the old man.

"Very well. If you are sure. Thank you for your time girls, you may go."

"Thank you Professor," the three young ladies offered, before they turned on heel and walked from the room and down the spiral staircase. After a few paces Leshia found herself being guided by her elbow towards the nearest girls toilets into which she was unceremoniously shoved by a livid Katie.

"What are you playing at?" the raven-haired girl demanded furiously once she had checked they were very much alone. Leshia rolled her eyes tiredly and rubbed at her blocked sinuses.

"Katie could you keep it down? I have a splitting headache!"

"You're lucky that's all you've got. Lying to Professor Dumbledore…"

"Kate ease up," Rachel warned calmly, though she turned a confused expression on the blonde girl. "Leesh I don't understand. Wouldn't it have been cool to plan all of Hogwarts' parties and stuff?"

"No," Leshia complained amusedly. "It would have sucked the fun out of it. I'd be doing exactly what they wanted of me…"

"Well what's wrong with that?" Katie demanded. "Honestly Leesh you don't have to rebel all the time you know! If they'd have asked me I'd have said yes in a heart beat."

Leshia's eyes narrowed slightly at the bespectacled girl, but she held her tongue. The last thing she wanted was to hurt her dear friend by pointing out that when _she_ was asked to be the Hogwarts Party Planner she could do whatever the hell she wanted. Katie didn't need legilimency to sense the blonde girl's thoughts.

"But they didn't ask me," she complained in a stony tone of voice. "They asked you. Always you."

"Guys," Rachel warned and she stepped between her two stubborn friends. "Katie don't say anything you'll regret and Leshia please can you just think about what you're doing?" The pleading expression on the redhead's face made Leshia's resolve soften a little.

"Rach I have thought about it and I'm not doing it. I'm not a sell-out and I'm not, by any means, a by-the-book kind of girl. They know that! They must have known I'd never agree to it…"

"But the possibilities Leshia!" Katie suddenly exploded sounding pained. "You could have had complete control!"

"I don't _want _complete control!" Leshia retorted passionately. "You two know better than anyone else how much I _hate_ being that girl. I'm not that girl! I'm me. Just normal everyday me who tries to stay below the radar."

"But that's such rubbish. If you wanted to stay below the radar you wouldn't do half the stuff you do Leshia," Katie countered fervently. "I know you remember? I know that the moment he suggested it you started thinking about a way in which you could stick it to them. You've probably planned the whole thing already haven't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about…"

"Your new Halloween Bash, that's what. Another illegal party that'll no doubt get us all expelled."

Had there not been an element of truth to the raven-haired girl's words then Leshia would have looked severely affronted at such accusations, but as her mind had been whirring with ideas since Dumbledore mentioned the word 'Halloween' she couldn't very well explode at the truth Katie spoke.

"Leesh I don't want to get in trouble with my dad again," Rachel broke the silence in a quiet voice. Leshia quickly shook her head.

"You won't."

"Oh God I knew it!"

"Look Katie if you don't want anything to do with it then I understand, I really do," Leshia exclaimed with a crinkled brow. She hated making her friends feel this way and wished she could make things right with them without selling out to the headmaster. "I won't be offended if you go to the school ball and stay totally out of what I'm planning. I don't want to be the one to decide everything for the three of us all the time, that's just as bad as being the school Party Planner. I'm just so bloody done being the one who takes charge." For a moment Leshia's shoulders rose and fell quickly to show how passionately she felt about this issue. Rachel's face instantly softened, but Katie's remained stony.

"Leshia I love you, I really do. You're one of my oldest and closest friends, but I don't know if I can do things your way anymore."

Katie's words reverberated off the bathroom tiles leaving the blonde girl nodding slowly.

"I don't want you to do things my way," she finally managed through her hoarse throat. "I've only ever wanted to see you happy Katie and you too Rach. Us being best friends doesn't stop you from doing your own thing _your_ own way."

A silence lulled over the depressed little group, one which was only broken by a very loud sneeze from Leshia, followed by another and another, until finally Katie escorted the girl out into the warmer corridor with Rachel in pursuit.

The discussion had been a momentous one and despite the nature of it the girls all felt a little relieved. Thoughts that had been weighing heavily on their minds had finally taken the first steps to being revealed and even though there were plenty more to share, right now they were content to leave it be and seek out a hearty lunch while there was still food to be had in the great hall.

XXX

Word of Leshia's refusal to act as the Hogwarts Party Planner spread like wildfire down the Gryffindor table resulting in the sickly fourth year being the focus of the house's discussions. By the time the bell rang signifying the end of lunch she was more than happy to high tail it off to the Defence Against the Dark Arts corridor where hopefully she would find a reprieve from the attention she was receiving. Her wish however, was not granted and soon she found herself face to face with a highly unpleasant smirk.

"Blood traitor! Glad to hear you know your place after all." Leshia stared stonily into Damian Allseyer's pale eyes wishing all manner of nasty curses on the boy.

"Whatever my place is Allseyer, I'm safe in the knowledge that it's always one higher than yours that's for sure."

"You wish," the childish young man scowled. "Last time I checked though purebloods ranked higher than the spawn of mudblood know-it-alls." Leshia's fists clenched furiously at her sides and she glared angrily at her nemesis.

"Didn't notice them asking you though did I?"

"Oh please, they know I'd never agree to such a pitiful role."

"If it's pitiful then why does that mean I know my place by turning it down?"

"Because," Damian sneered, his eyes cold with malice. "You're the most pitiful thing of all: a blood-traitor rebel without a cause. Go ahead Malfoy, alienate everyone around you, make it easier for me to be rid of you once and for all."

His words struck a chord with Leshia who looked for a moment as though she might be reaching for her wand, but before she could land herself in a whole world of trouble heavy footsteps sounded from down the corridor. Quickly Leshia jumped into line with her friends, but cast the Slytherin boy one last furious glare letting him know he wouldn't hold the upper hand for long.

Draco's mood was undeterminable and when he reached the youngsters he was more dichotic than ever. While he held the door open he held each teenager's eye while they were forced to skirt past him. Only for Leshia did he change his expression, dipping his left brow at the girl in both concern and reprove.

'Oh great, he knows,' his daughter grumbled to herself inwardly and quickly she darted from his side to her desk. She was determined not to let her father get to her and spent the entire duration of the lesson preparing what she would say for the inevitable conversation her father would expect with her.

Leshia wasn't mistaken and come the end of the rather mundane theory based lesson she was summoned to remain behind while her friends slinked out casting the Malfoy girl concerned glances over their shoulders. Draco all but chased them out and shut the door promptly sealing himself and his daughter inside the classroom and all her nosy friends out of it. Awkwardly the blonde girl shifted in her seat feeling her self-assuredness wavering a little. She so rarely spoke to her dad on her own anymore that she was beginning to forget how she used to do so without a care in the world. She was out of practice and as Draco walked slowly across the classroom to settle on a desk a few rows in front of his daughter, Leshia bit the inside of her cheeks to force herself to keep his gaze.

"You know why I've asked you to stay behind," her father finally spoke. He didn't sound annoyed where she had expected him to and this in itself gave Leshia the strength to slouch down in her chair nonchalantly and nod tiredly. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Don't play games with me Leshia, just answer the question."

So he _was_ mad, just hiding it very well. Leshia looked momentarily to her hands while she inhaled deeply, trying to think of a way to get out of there in one piece. It was the end of the day and her father had all the time in the world to make the girl regret her decision and go back on it.

"I didn't want to do it," she finally replied, lifting her large grey eyes to meet her father's identical ones. "What's the big deal?"

"The big deal?" Quickly Draco dropped down from his position of resting against the desk to the chair in front of it leaning his arms on the one that separated him from his daughter. "I don't think this school and its staff can handle many more instances like the one you got yourself into last Halloween Leshia and I don't want to see you throw everything away just to get everyone talking about how wonderful and rebellious you are for a few days before they forget all about it again."

"That's not why…" Leshia stopped for a moment and bit hard on her tongue; she was giving the game away and what's more she had reacted exactly the way her father had wanted her to.

"Isn't it? Why else do you do the things you do sweetheart? To stay out of everyone's way and sink into the background?"

Leshia narrowed her eyes in annoyance at her father, wishing he didn't know her so well. She knew the words he was saying were just that, mere words he had chosen to get her to open up to him, if only in anger for a little while. He didn't mean those things…or did he?

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh you don't?"

"No! And I'm not planning anything now either. If I'd wanted to plan a party then wouldn't I have just said yes to Professor Dumbledore?" Draco nodded slowly.

"We were hoping so yes, but obviously being told you're allowed to do something sort of sucks the fun out of it doesn't it?"

"Dad!" the girl complained hotly. "Stop pretending like you know everything, because you don't you know! Nobody knows everything!"

For a moment the slightest whisper of a smile pulled at Draco's mouth and he looked down at his hands to hide it. For the first time in a while he found himself in a discussion with Leshia that resembled the good old days when she didn't pretend not to feel anything towards him. Though she was irritated with him, this was still an emotion an uncaring girl wouldn't be able to conjure up. She was so good at pretending sometimes that Draco forgot his daughter was still the same stubborn and headstrong girl he'd raised to be just that.

"No," he finally sighed and looked up into his little girl's adorably defiant face. "But I do know you."

"Maybe not as well as you think. I'm not planning anything. I just want to keep my head down and not be _her_ for a while."

"Who?"

"You know, the person everyone thinks I am, including you by the looks of it."

"Sweetheart _I_ know who you are," Draco countered softly and for a moment he lulled into silence, which was broken moments later by a very loud sneeze from his daughter. "You should go and see Madam Pomfry about that cold, you've been coming down with it all week."

"Can I go now?" Leshia asked suddenly in response to this show of concern, eliciting a small smile from her father, who wished she would choose to stay of her own accord, but had no reason for keeping her against her will.

"If you must." At his words the girl was on her feet to the sound of her chair scraping across the floor. While her father watched she packed her things roughly into her satchel, then without a word she flounced towards the door. "Are you telling me that you're actually going to follow the rules from now on?"

Leshia stopped still in her tracks and her eyes went wide. The way her father had spoken those words…the way they made her blood vessels contract…why did following the rules instil such a great feeling of terror in her? After a few moments the girl turned round slowly to find Draco on his feet, watching her with great interest.

"I don't like rules," she uttered meekly, unsure of whether she was defying him or wistfully pointing out how hard it was going to be. Draco wasn't sure either and after a few seconds he nodded slowly.

"You know for what it's worth, I think you would have done a great job. I really do."

Leshia nodded slowly staring into her father's familiar and friendly face with a deep sense of regret. Why did they have to have Evie? Why couldn't they have left things well alone? She loved her father and she loved her mother, but their choosing to have another baby…one to replace her…the pain they had caused her was too deep. And so where Leshia wished she could run across the classroom and hug her father after so many months of not allowing herself to, she actually back stepped until she reached the door. With only a nod to Draco she disappeared through it, her eyes stinging and her poor sore head throbbing.

XXX

Autumn was passing steadily by, but while the weather changed rapidly out in the now cold and wet grounds life inside the castle plodded along comfortably. The atmosphere was cosy safe inside the thick stone walls and most of Hogwarts' staff and students seemed in high spirits. Aside from the odd sojourns out into the blustery weather to practice quidditch for those unfortunate enough to be on one of the school teams, nobody ventured out of doors much. It was no surprise then that the second Hogsmeade trip of the year received very little interest from the students who had no desire to walk down to the village in the pouring rain. In fact Leshia and Rachel were amongst the few who didn't feel put off by the furious storm clouds nor the thick mist that hung low over mountainous landscape. The pair of friends wrapped up against the cold rain with several layers beneath their waterproof jackets.

Katie and Luisa watched them wrapping up in amusement, happy they weren't going out into the storm. Leshia though soon halted Katie's laughter in her throat by pulling her over to the side by her elbow, a serious expression on her face.

"Something the matter?" Katie asked worriedly. "You look really pale, maybe you shouldn't go Leesh."

"Katie I _am_ pale," Leshia complained with a small smile. "That's not it. Look, can I borrow your cloak for a little while?"

"What's wrong with the three cloaks you're wearing?" the raven-haired girl countered with a frown, misunderstanding Leshia's point entirely.

"No, not that cloak, I mean…you know…your _cloak_." Leshia's voice dropped until she was barely more audible than a whisper. "Your dad's cloak?"

"Oh!" Katie suddenly exclaimed and she stepped backwards. "Uh I'm not sure Leesh. What do you want it for?" Leshia held the girl's green eyes for a moment, before she shook her head.

"I promise it won't get you in trouble."

"Yes, but will it get _you_ in trouble?" Katie asked firmly. Leshia's cold grey eyes still remained narrowed in thought, until finally the girl shook her head once more.

"No. Please?"

How could Katie say no? So it was with a heavy heart that she watched her two dear friends rushing from the common room, heads bowed together in a hushed conversation. For a moment she felt like sprinting to catch up with them, feeling intensely isolated from them. The visitors at the castle had been with them four weeks now. It seemed like no time at all, but in this short month Katie's distance from her childhood friends had grown and it seemed as though the only person she spent any time with anymore was Luisa. In truth Katie missed the other two something rotten and was determined to let them know as soon as they were back from their trip down to the village. No matter what trouble they were causing the raven-haired girl would stand by them and make an evening of it.

The day passed slowly by and by the time Leshia and Rachel reappeared bedraggled, but grinning fit to burst Katie was desperate to see what they'd been up to. The moment the pair walked through the portrait hole their friend descended on them talkatively, helping them lug some parcels up to their dormitory. Tactfully Luisa remained behind with the boys while the trio of best friends barricaded themselves inside the fourth year girls' dormitory.

"So what did you get?" Katie asked eagerly, but before she could peer inside one of the curious packages she found the bags snatched unceremoniously from her hands.

"Never you mind," Leshia warned cheerfully. Katie wrinkled her brow petulantly at the girls, wondering what trouble they were getting themselves into now. She hadn't heard a word about the Halloween Ball or Bash since that dreaded day Leshia had turned down her dream role, but she definitely suspected the other two to be in the throws of some intricate and mischievous plan. Several times she'd caught them in the middle of a hushed conversation, which they soon extricated themselves from when she showed up on the scene. Though she had no desire to be involved, Katie couldn't help but feel exceedingly left out.

"Why did you need my cloak Leesh?" the girl asked reproachfully. Leshia wrinkled her brow and shook her head.

"No particular reason, didn't end up using it actually." With this she reached into her satchel and pulled out the damp looking invisibility cloak, handing it back to its rightful owner.

"Then why is it wet?" keen-eyed Katie asked quickly.

"Not sure, it must have fallen out when I was looking for my purse."

"You had the cloak with you?" Rachel now piped up curiously and it was the innocent expression on her face that caused Katie to falter. Surely if they'd been causing trouble with her father's magical cloak then her cousin wouldn't have to pretend that she didn't know Leshia had even been carrying the cloak.

"Yeah, I thought we might need it. You never know. Katie there's no need to look at us like that; we've been as good as gold. I promise!"

"So what's in the bags then if you haven't been up to no good?" Leshia and Rachel looked to one another tiredly.

"If you must know they're packages for a certain someone whose birthday is coming up this Monday," Leshia finally explained dryly. Katie's cheeks suddenly flushed red with embarrassment. They were birthday presents. Birthday presents for her!

"Oh I'm sorry!" she quickly exclaimed and hugged her friends about their necks. "I don't mean to be a pain, I just don't want you to get into trouble that's all."

XXX

Katie awoke to the sound of a whispered argument taking place beyond the curtains of her four-poster bed. The girl wasn't what you could call a renowned morning person, quite opposite actually, but it would take a lot to rouse Katie into a bad mood _that _Monday morning. Finally, after months of waiting she had turned fifteen. Only two more years to go and she would be of age.

"Luisa have you got the corner?" Katie pricked her ears up and smiled at the voices of her friends, trying their best to be covert in the early dawn hour.

"Yes I am ready."

"Good, Leesh? You ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Katie heard the blonde girl mutter under her breath.

"Okay? On three then," Rachel instructed the troops. "One…two…three." Katie shut her eyes tightly in time to her curtains being wrenched open. Where moments before the dormitory had been bathed in silence quite suddenly the room was awash with sound and music. Katie sat straight up in bed and stared with shock at the brightly coloured paper birds fluttering about her four-poster and the enormous banner her friends had attached to themselves reading 'Happy Birthday Four-Eyes'. The three girls were jumping up and down blowing on noise makers in time to the 'Happy Birthday' tune being blasted out of Katie's own wireless.

"Happy Birthday!" they yelled out happily while confetti sprayed them all from the enchanted paper birds trying to escape through the decadent velvet bed ceiling.

"Thank you!" Katie gushed, her eyes falling on the mountain of presents at the foot of her bed. "This is amazing!"

On the wireless the song was coming to a close and to the girl's utmost wonder the radio DJ Dan Moonshine, a personal favourite of Katie's gave a 'shout out' to birthday girl Katie who had just turned fifteen at Hogwarts.

"How did you guys arrange all this?" Katie demanded in shock.

"We thought you deserved a nice surprise," Leshia replied happily and after pulling the banner off her top she dropped down on the bed and squished up next to Katie at the top of the bed. "Well go on, open your presents!"

Katie didn't need telling twice and spent the next fifteen minutes 'oohing', 'ahhing' and expressing her thanks for the impressive loot she'd managed to score for her fifteenth. She particularly took a liking to the designer top Leshia had given her from her favourite shop down Diagon Alley: Madam Silvergrace's Boutique.

"I still can't believe you remembered I like that shop. Leesh their stuff is so expensive, are you sure?" Katie remarked distantly, while she fingered the fine lace on the sleeve of her new top. Leshia rolled her eyes and shoved Katie's arm playfully.

"Oh please, I spent the summer working my arse off didn't I? Don't worry about it."

"Thank you so much, _all_ of you! This is the best birthday ever!"

"Brilliant," Rachel cheered and she clapped her hands together. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to run off to the shower queue before all the hot water goes."

Thinking this a grand idea, Leshia soon joined her red-haired friend and after rushing down with their shower things to find a mammoth queue the two girls joined it begrudgingly. It was slow going, but it gave the pair a chance to catch up on the second portion of their 'surprise Katie' plan.

"So we're agreed then?" Leshia uttered under her breathe. "You'll distract her while I get everything sorted back here?"

"Yep."

"Where are you going to take her?"

"Birmingham." Leshia gave Rachel a stern look.

"Birmingham?"

"Well come off it Leesh, I'm not a moron you know. I can handle distracting my own cousin for an hour or so. I'll just tell her I want to get to know the library better or something. My God, she'd wet herself I'm sure!"

"Good, then…" Leshia fell silent mid sentence, tilting her chin down while she caught someone's eye across the room. For a moment Rachel tried to get her attention,

"Leesh? Leshia? Lukas Krosovitch just flew past the window. Leesh?"

After giving up Rachel turned round to see a tall young man walking their way, his dark hair was wet and the skin on his face still dappled with droplets from his shower. Owen Gabriel seemed dark and brooding as he walked along the queue of waiting girls. Unlike the last time Leshia had encountered her friend in such a predicament, Owen wore his loose grey school trousers and a partially undone white shirt, but seemed none the less dashing for it.

"Morning," the blonde girl called to her friend when he reached her point in the queue. Owen seemed to consider walking past, but couldn't quite bring himself to do that to his friend. Yes he was annoyed with the Malfoy girl; ever since the castle had become inundated with attractive newcomers he'd not had a moment alone with her and he could see the way she had attached herself to Raffa and Fed in the common room. And had he thought he might get some time with the girl during their quidditch trainings then Owen would have been horrified to find that those two Salemers Joshua and Matt tagged along each time drawing Leshia's attention without even trying. The jealousy was almost too much for the young man and he found it was easier to deal with if he stopped talking to the girl he had adored altogether.

"Morning Malfoy, Rachel," Owen greeted the pair in the queue politely.

"How have you been?" the blonde girl asked stiltedly, her expression both concerned and indignant that she be given the silent treatment when she hadn't strictly done anything to deserve it.

"All right, yourself?" Slowly Leshia nodded.

"Yeah okay I guess."

"Great." As though his duty had been done Owen continued on his path towards the spiral staircase that would lead him up to his dormitory.

"Owen!" Reluctantly the boy turned around, his dark brow furrowed in an impatient frown. He didn't want to look into Leshia's hurt eyes; he didn't want to look at her at all. How could she have just turned from him as though he didn't exist? He thought that the bond they had shared had been special…at least it had meant something to him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Owen replied gruffly, his eyes falling to the floor. The girls in the queue behind Leshia were watching the exchange with curious smiles, the fresh gossip that Owen Gabriel had fallen out with Leshia Malfoy ready to drop off their tongues to anyone who would listen, so reluctantly the blonde girl shrugged her shoulders.

"See you around then I guess." With nothing further to say Owen turned on heal and hot-footed it up the stairs leaving Leshia scuffing her slipper-clad foot on the carpet. All eyes were on her, so after smiling awkwardly at her peers she turned round again and glanced to Rachel for support.

"What was wrong with him?" The freckled girl shook her head slowly, her face arranged in a sympathetic expression.

"I don't know Leesh. Maybe it's his time of the month."

Quite suddenly Leshia snorted with laughter and the tension was gone. Over breakfast Katie became the subject of everyone's attention and the girl was evidently in her element. Her parents sent her a singing birthday card that triggered Michael, her younger brother, to saunter over to dutifully join in with his parents' voices. After offering his big sister a hug the boy scurried off, his cheeks bright red. More presents followed having to be divided over all the girl's friends' satchels, because hers had become too full to cope.

"This is the best birthday ever!" Katie repeated her earlier sentiments over the whoosh of the post owls fluttering in to deliver their bounties to the respective pupils. Leshia was thankful her mother hadn't sent her a letter (indeed she was accustomed to receiving three or four a week these days) and instead spent the rest of breakfast idly leafing through Katie's untouched Daily Prophet searching for any clues as to her grandfather's whereabouts.

Leshia's collection of newspaper cuttings was getting quite big now and she'd taken to sticking them all into a big notebook to keep a running record of her progress. The accounts were few and far between, but if they were to be believed then Lucius Malfoy was drifting about Western Europe, which was a little too close for Leshia's liking. The unexplained mysterious goings on (such as the remains of the peculiar and tragic case of the muggle family who had been turned inside out in Australia) were a little more disturbing, purely because they spanned the globe. If Lucius, or worse a following of dark wizards and witches, were to blame for these attacks and mysteries, then Leshia had all the more reason to worry. Western Europe was manageable, whereas an uprising that spanned the globe was slightly more difficult to contain.

Thankfully nothing caught her eye and after closing the paper Leshia stretched appreciatively and glanced about the hall. Plans for Katie's birthday party had rather overshadowed her own attempts to launch this year's Halloween bash into life. Rachel had been a fundamental aide in getting the ball rolling, not that the party required anything too extravagant. Leshia had long been thinking why they had made life so difficult for themselves the year before.

On one of her first nights back at the castle she had ambled along the seventh floor corridor outside the location of the room of requirement concentrating hard on a place to have a party. The room had provided a mediocre events hall complete with a half-hearted attempt at a buffet. Further attempts on Leshia's part with her concentrating on more specific requirements turned out a much better venue; the room had produced an enormous hall complete with high windows, floating lanterns, a dance area in front of a stage, a refreshments area, a lounging area and a more secluded area in the corner where a maze of bushy rose bushes had temporarily grown. There was none of the atmosphere last year's lakeside gathering had provided, nor any of the celebrities their second year ambitious attempt had turned out, but Leshia was confident this year's party would arouse a certain level of interest. She had a secret weapon. One which had been painstakingly retrieved from Hogsmeade, hidden in the grounds and then safely moved under the cover of darkness in the middle of the night to the room of requirement.

All that remained now was a musical line-up, but Leshia had something up her sleeve in that department as well. For a few weeks now she had been calling in an old favour from an old friend, who, if she remembered correctly, had a pretty decent band at his disposal and wouldn't mind the publicity one of Hogwarts' now renowned underground parties could offer them.

Yes, all in all Leshia was quite looking forward to next Tuesday when the night of the party would unfold, but how to spread the word in the meantime without attracting any interest from the teachers?

"Earth to Leesh!" She'd been daydreaming too long and most of her friends were out the room already leaving only Rachel looking concernedly at the blank-face blonde girl. "Oh so you haven't gone deaf then."

"Yeah sorry," Leshia apologised happily while she jumped to her feet to follow Rachel up to the first floor corridor for Defence Against the Dark Arts. "In my own little world."

"Must be nice to have your own little world. This one's getting a bit cramped." Leshia laughed heartily and wrapped an arm about Rachel's shoulders.

"I love the weird and wonderful way you look at life Rach. I really do."

XXX

Rachel let her eyes roll back into her head a little while Katie ran off to find the reference book she needed. How much longer was she going to have to keep her cousin detained in the library? She couldn't handle much more of this! Katie didn't even seem suspicious of the freckled girl's sudden interest in quidditch history, which Rachel put down in part to her ingenious acting, but also to the raven-haired girl's ditziness, which had been rampant all day. Katie had gone slightly silly with all the attention she'd been granted. Normally she would have smelled a rat had Rachel walked up to her and suggested they spend the next hour in the library, but today was an exception.

Rachel glanced at her watch and let a relieved smile spread across her face. Nine-o clock! Finally they could head back to the common room. The others had been given an hour to prepare and any more time the redhead was simply not prepared to grant them. The moment Katie returned Rachel swept her to her feet and claimed she suddenly remembered she had to get back to finish her transfiguration homework for the next day. Though the raven-haired girl seemed disappointed that her cousin's interest in the library seemed to have evaporated, she followed the girl back through the portrait hole…

"Surprise!"

Katie leapt back with her hands over her mouth, her eyes as wide as dinner plates at the happy faces all donning enormous party hats and the transformation of the common room. Banners wishing her a happy fifteenth were strung from the light fittings and a refreshment stand with stolen pumpkin juice and pastries from the kitchens (in fact Dobby had gone all out when he heard the refreshments were for Harry Potter's daughter) stood off to one side. And of course a few crates of butterbeer lay beneath the refreshment table; it wouldn't be a Gryffindor party without their usual unlimited Butterbeer supply doing the rounds.

"Oh my God!" Katie managed finally, her eyes welling up with tears. "This is amazing! Thank you all so much!"

Rachel had by now thrown her arms around her cousin's shoulders and after struggling through the crowds Leshia appeared to do the same. Katie hugged her best friends back, feeling so thankful for the effort they had made and the obvious care they had shown her all day.

"You guys are the best friends a girl could wish for," she whispered while chatter resumed in the common room. "What did I do to deserve all this?"

"Are you kidding?" Leshia laughed and she pulled back, giving the raven-haired girl a massive smile. "What have you done to _not_ deserve it? You're always there for us Katie and we really appreciate everything you do for us. So it's time we showed you."

"I deserve the real praise around here," Rachel jeered cheerfully. "I mean I am the one who had to sit through an _hour_ with Library Katie."

Fresh tears fell from Katie's eyes while she laughed and hugged her cousin firmly.

"I knew you were up to something," she managed joyously.

"Come on, you need a drink methinks," Leshia quickly ordered and she dragged a shaky Katie over to the comfiest armchair reserved especially for the birthday girl. The moment the bespectacled girl dropped down a butterbeer was airlifted straight to her hand and she found the seats all around her occupied by her closest friends. All of them were grinning at her happily.

"Surprised?" Rodeo asked happily. Katie nodded fervently.

"I had no idea. Whose idea was all this?" All eyes turned on Leshia, who grinned coyly and shook her head.

"Guys don't, we all came up with it."

"She's being modest, it was all her," Rachel uttered in an undertone at Katie's side. Leshia rolled her eyes and dropped down on the armrest of the sofa beside Parys, accepting a fresh bottle of butterbeer from a helpful first year. The tall boy sat in the corner of the sofa reached out an arm easily to pull Leshia down onto the seat beside him, though she ended up practically sat in his lap.

"Parys," she laughed. "I'm going to squash you."

"Yeah right, like you could! Look I'll budge up." But Parys couldn't budge up far enough, as already Parys, Rodeo, Luisa, Rachel, Ashley and Nicola were somehow squeezed onto the two-seater sofa, which was undoubtedly already more than it could reasonably handle. Leshia rolled her eyes and climbed to her feet again noticing with a slight blush that the only available space was on the opposite armchair beside Raffa.

"Leesh just sit down over there with Raf," Katie told the girl. So after a nervous smile Leshia quickly darted across the rug and dropped down at his side, having to squeeze in beside him on the wide armchair.

"Hello," the foreign boy remarked casually eliciting a cheeky grin from the blonde girl.

"Hi."

"So Leesh, what's the deal with Halloween?" Rodeo asked loudly to draw Leshia's attention away from the attractive boy at her side.

"What makes you think there's anything happening at Halloween?" the blonde girl replied simply. "Besides," she added urgently, looking at Katie. "I bet almost everyone will be heading to the ball this year instead of…you know, the old stuff that used to go on. Don't you think Katie?"

Her attempt to switch the conversation onto the birthday girl was thinly veiled, but Katie appreciated it nonetheless and took the opportunity to revel in the limelight. As for Leshia, she was happy to lean back into the armchair to enjoy Raffa's undivided attention, which he was equally happy to lavish on her.

Hogwarts had never known the likes of a house so ready to accept any excuse to throw a party and for the first years, who were yet to be indoctrinated into the celebratory lifestyle of their new house the night was an eye opener. Everywhere hyperactive and giggly youths were dancing about enthusiastically to the music and falling over each other in a reckless attempt to relieve the stress that had already built up in the first six or so weeks of term.

The climate in the common room was definitely conducive to hushed and private conversations and as the night wore on Raffa and Leshia sunk lower and lower down in their shared armchair until eventually they were practically lying in it, their heads inches from one another.

"So do you guys ever throw parties at the Institute?" Leshia asked curiously. Raffa frowned.

"Oh all the time! This…" The boy waved about the common room with his hand. "This is nothing."

"Oh get real," Leshia laughed happily, recognising his joke for what it was. "Gryffindor's well known for being the wildest house the school's ever seen!"

"And this is because of you." Raffa didn't seem to be asking, rather stating. Leshia giggled coyly and shook her head.

"No, not because of us. It's just worked out that there's a combination of years that love to let loose that's all. There used to be this year who left two years ago, now they were pretty wild! They were always after an excuse to party!" Raffa smiled at the girl and leaned a little closer. Leshia could feel his breath on her chin and the sensation sent a tingle down her spine.

"I think it is because of you. You are different to any girl I have met before."

"That's such a load of crud," the blonde girl laughed, but she couldn't help but feel flattered. "I'm nothing special."

"Stop saying these things," Raffa complained and he sounded serious. "You cannot believe it when you say you are not special. You must have had so many boyfriends at this school…"

"No actually," Leshia corrected him quickly. "I haven't. Not even one, not really." In shock Raffa leaned back, his brow furrowed into a deep frown of disbelief. Leshia's face though, told of no lie.

"You?"

"Yes me!"

"So you have never kissed a boy before?" Leshia met the boy's addictive brown eyes and leaned in closer despite the alarm bell that was ringing in the back of her mind.

"I didn't say _that_."

"Oh so you are an expert I see?" Raffa teased in a low voice.

"Not exactly," the girl replied, her face adorably scrunched up, her mind on the brief first and second kiss she had shared with Owen Gabriel earlier that year in the spring term of her third year. It had been an experience that had been cut far too short.

Before she could dwell on the memory too much however, Raffa's hand suddenly lifted to her cheek and the boy leaned in so close his lips brushed against her own. Leshia's surprise soon turned into a smile and she leaned into her third ever kiss finding it an entirely different experience to the one she had been reminiscing about moments before. For starters it was much longer and much wetter than she remembered…

"Oh my God," Rachel whispered in surprise to no one in particular.

"What?" Parys at her side asked amusedly, grinning at the freckled girl fondly.

"Leshia's snogging Raffa!" All eyes flicked round to see that indeed the pair on the armchair had finally started what they'd been threatening to do all night. The reactions the sight elicited from the girl's friends were mixed and whereas most people in the vicinity were amused, there were those, namely Rodeo and Owen who felt their blood boil at the sight.

"God get a room," Rodeo muttered loudly.

"Rodes," Parys warned, but it was too late Leshia had heard the boy and pulled out of the 'snog' quicker than Raffa would have liked. She smiled shyly at the group while Raffa's eyes flashed dangerously in Rodeo's direction. After the pair had glared at one another long enough the foreign boy stretched out in the armchair and wrapped his arm round Leshia's shoulders. Rodeo visibly twitched in anger and forced himself to look away before he lost his temper. What could he do? A small smile pulled at Raffa's mouth, but he suppressed it, instead seeking to engage Leshia in conversation once more.

"So?" he asked her with a charming smile.

"So?" she repeated amusedly. "So how bad was I?"

"Bad? No, not bad." Leshia's smile faltered; how could she have not been bad? She had felt useless, all clumsy and uncoordinated. Raffa smiled at the girl and sought to reassure her by kissing her once more. Wanting to show she could do better Leshia eagerly leaned in to meet him.

While the girl and boy kissed the rest of the room turned to look, if only for a moment. One of the house's more prominent members hitching up with one of the attractive newcomer's was quite a piece of hot gossip and already the seeds were set for a school-wide story to spread. Come morning everyone, from the most insignificant first year to the school caretaker Mr Filch would know that Leshia Malfoy had spent the evening lip locked with the new boy Raffa.

After ten minutes Leshia pulled back from the boy and glanced towards her friends noticing they were trying very hard not to bother her by looking in her direction. When they saw she had come up for air however, they moved to involve her in the conversation, but their attempts were thwarted by Raffa's eager attempts to reclaim Leshia's attention.

She started to get annoyed with the boy. So she'd kissed him, did that mean she had to keep kissing him till he left at the end of term? Suddenly Leshia felt trapped by this new limitation to her freedom and she remembered painfully how she had refused just such a relationship with Owen…Owen whom she had really cared about.

The girl felt dirty and wrong and regretted what she had done.

"Raffa," she finally told him quietly. "I don't…I'm not really sure that…"

"What?" the boy asked darkly, his thick brows lowering over his eyes.

"Look I'm sorry, but I don't…I don't normally do stuff like this. Is it okay if we just, if we like leave it and just be friends?" Her words came almost as a slap in the face to the amiable boy, who turned suddenly less charming and more stony.

"Friends?" he repeated incredulously. Leshia nodded jerkily.

"I'm sorry," she whispered and then quickly climbed to her feet, heading over to the refreshment table in an attempt to get away from the boy's glare. She was shaking, feeling dirty and wrong and cheap. All she wanted was to get away, she had to get away…

Leshia walked quickly down the empty corridor, heading down a path she had walked many times before, but only once since the grim summer. She didn't even care that she was exposing herself to danger in the form of several stalking teachers she wanted nothing to do with; like Professor Tripper and Professor Snape for starters. All she knew was that she needed to get away from the mess she'd left behind. What would everyone think of her?

With a grimace at everything that had happened Leshia sped up, sensing a presence behind her that she couldn't explain. She knew she was being followed and feared who or what was pursuing her. Memories of last year's terrifying events came flooding back to the shaking girl and without warning she broke into a run.

Luck was smiling on Leshia that night, as on her journey not a soul, dead or alive, stumbled into her path. Before she knew it she'd reached the portrait of the newlyweds that concealed the warm and solid oak door of the once Malfoy chambers. Expertly she reached out to scratch the grateful groom's foot revealing the door to the dark chambers beyond.

Darkness enveloped the girl as she walked inside and though she had now grown to expect the dustsheet-covered furniture and the cold where once there had been warmth the sight of the chambers still caught the breath in her throat. Pathetically Leshia whimpered slightly, as she ambled through the furniture touching the tabletops where photos and artefacts had once stood pride of place. Her eyes fell on the pot of floo-powder attached to the wall beside the hearth. This was obviously what her father used to get to and from the castle for work every day, Leshia thought to herself and with a crumpled expression she walked over to the dust filled pot. The marks her father's fingers had traced through the floo powder lay untouched from that afternoon and before she could stop them tears trickled out of her eyes.

"Dad," Leshia exhaled weakly and after biting her lip for a moment she reached out and pressed her own fingers into the marks his had made only hours before. For a long time she stared in the gloom at the pot and her small hand in the larger print, feeling alone and confused.

Before she could quite lose herself in her thoughts however, she heard the door creaking open. Quite suddenly she wrenched her hand back and darted round to see the front door push all the way open revealing a frowning Owen Gabriel rushing inside and shutting the door behind himself.

"Owen?"

"Shhh! Snape's right behind me!" Leshia instantly fell silent and waited while Owen pushed his ear up against the door for several minutes. The silence was painful to the girl, as it gave her time to think of all the laughter that had reverberated off these very walls in happier times gone by. Before Leshia could lose herself in the past Owen pulled away from the door and stalked across the room quite suddenly, his face was a mixture of worry and annoyance.

"Are you okay?" he almost demanded. Leshia stared at him tremulously, before she finally shook her head. Fresh tears coursed down her cheeks while she dropped down onto the dustsheet-covered settee. Owen frowned and tentatively approached the girl, taking a seat on the covered coffee table in front of his friend.

"I can't believe I just did that," she whispered. "My first proper kiss with a guy who I hardly know and definitely don't care about!"

"Hey!" Owen complained, a small smile on his face. "What do you mean proper kiss? What about us?" Leshia turned a wounded expression on the young man.

"You know what I meant!"

"Yeah I do," Owen chuckled. "You mean your first snog. Well sorry, we didn't really get time for that what with that psychopath Rodeo blowing his top and everything."

"Owen he's not a psychopath," Leshia complained tiredly.

"So you don't like this Raffa guy then?" Owen couldn't hide the hope in his face. Leshia shrugged her shoulders meekly and then shook her head.

"I thought he was really nice, but all he's after is one thing." This was answer enough for the young man, who nodded to himself and brought his feet up onto the edge of the sofa.

"You really miss them don't you?" he finally spoke again. "Your parents I mean." For a moment Leshia hung her head and shut her eyes, trying to pretend she wasn't having this conversation, but she couldn't fight the turbulent emotions any longer.

"Yes," she whispered, nodding jerkily. Fresh tears trickled out of her tightly closed eyes.

"Why don't you just tell them that and set things straight then?"

"I can't…"

"But why not?"

"Owen I can't!"

"Malfoy you're the most stubborn girl I've ever met," Owen laughed. "You do know that Evie's not going anywhere right?" Leshia's eyes snapped open angrily at the mention of her sister's name.

"Don't. You don't know what you're talking about."

"No maybe not, but I know that you ignoring your parents isn't helping you and it isn't helping them. So why don't you just give them a break?"

"Because I can't okay? I just can't!" Leshia finally exploded angrily. "Owen can't you just take my side? Please?"

"Leesh I've told you this before," the tall boy countered earnestly. "I'm _always_ on your side." The girl's cold grey eyes bored deeply into his warm ones, until finally she nodded and a small smile pulled at her otherwise taut face.

"Yeah I know and you have no idea how much that means to me."

"Good," Owen said decisively, before he clapped his hands down on his knees and climbed to his feet. "Now come on, let's get Cinderella back to the ball." Leshia grinned darkly.

"It's not my ball Owen, we threw it for Katie."

"Would you just get to your feet please? I'm trying to cheer you up!" Leshia laughed happily and pulled herself to her feet tiredly. She accepted the arm Owen held out to her and so arm in arm the pair of Gryffindors strolled from the former Malfoy chambers. The first whisper of a meow in the distance and they jerked from each other to opposite sides of the corridor, opting for a more stealthy approach than the one they'd initially chosen, but the big smile never left Leshia's face. Owen Gabriel was a better friend than she deserved.

XXX

Draco appeared in the grate of the London kitchen with a sore head and a mind weighed down by the concerning news he'd not stopped hearing about all day concerning Leshia's antics the night before at the impromptu Gryffindor party. Tuesday he didn't have his daughter's class, which was probably a good thing the tall man conceded to himself, or he might have done something to the cocky foreign boy that he might later regret.

Hermione was up for once and stood at the stove preparing a delicious dinner for her dear husband. At the sight of the beautiful woman dressed in a pretty sweater dress that accentuated her curves Draco sighed contentedly and ambled over to his wife, sweeping her into a firm embrace.

"I love you," he spoke gently and to his wife's delight he dipped her low and kissed her with a passion he reserved only for her.

"I love you too," she replied softly when her husband straightened out again, keeping her close with a hand round her waist. "How was school?"

"Long," he groaned, but chose not to reveal what he had found out till he was better able to explain it without feeling his veins throbbing in his temples. "Where's the little one?"

"Sleeping soundly," Hermione replied with a contented smile.

"Perfect," Draco whispered and after leaning down low he kissed Hermione's neck gently sending shivers up her spine.

"You haven't done that in a while," she uttered softly, while she stirred the vegetables on the hob slowly.

"This is the first time I've found you up missy," Draco chuckled and after one last adoring kiss he pulled away from his wife to pull his shoes off in the hallway. Within moments he was back at her side with a tumbler full of soothing whiskey.

"Darling you look like you've had a rough day," Hermione told her husband concernedly. "Was it those pesky seventh years again?" Draco chuckled at his wife's attempts to tease him and he shook his head tiredly.

"I'll tell you about it after I've got some good food and plenty more of this down me," he explained, raising his whiskey in Hermione's general direction.

"Well the food I can provide, but perhaps the less of that the better no?"

"No baby I need this."

"Okay darling, whatever you say," the loved up woman laughed fondly, before she used her wand to separate their dinner into two portions. "In the meantime, dinner is served."

Draco thoroughly enjoyed his wife's cooking that night, even more so now she was sat at his side enjoying it with him for first time in a couple of weeks. They laughed and drank and soon found themselves curled up together in the sitting room in front of a crackling fire.

"So what was so awful?" Hermione asked lazily, her hand intertwined with Draco's.

"Oh," he exclaimed tiredly. "It's not…no actually, it is something. It's that daughter of yours."

"Leshia?" Hermione's ease instantly evaporated into thin air and she sat up staring at her husband probingly. "What's wrong with Leshia?"

"She spent the night getting off with that Rafael boy from the Institute." Hermione's eyes went wide in surprise.

"Really?"

"It's all the school could talk about all day. Apparently Gryffindor threw a party for Katie's birthday yesterday and they…yeah well that _boy_ put the moves on our little girl."

"Draco," Hermione warned, suddenly regaining her wits about her. "I'm sure it was a mutual decision. I just can't believe she would…" The woman lulled into silence and looked down at her hands in deep thought. Draco sighed heavily and took a large swig of his whiskey. "That Raffa boy," Hermione finally spoke in a gravelly voice. "He's a sweet boy, but he's trouble Draco. I'd feel much more comfortable if he stayed as far from our little girl as possible." The dangerous man at her side stared into his empty tumbler pensively, until finally he placed it down on the table and leaned back, wrapping two strong arms around his wife.

"Consider it done."

"Draco…"

"Shhh, don't you worry about a thing." Before Hermione could voice any of the concerns Draco's words had stirred she suddenly found herself silenced by a firm kiss, which she returned hungrily. When was the last time she and Draco had taken the time to simply lie back on the settee and enjoy a kiss?

XXX

_Hey there shorty_

_So I won't pretend I was surprised by your letter. Haven't heard from you in a while and there's you asking me and the boys to perform at your party. You know a little 'how's it going' could have gone a long way before…_

_Nah, I'm just messing with you. Seriously, when I read your letter to the guys Freddie actually fell off his chair. Times have changed since we were at Hogwarts! I mean your gigs actually get mentioned in Grunge & Magic magazine in the up and coming venues column every once in a while. So we'll be there with bells on._

_It'll be good to see you again Nuisance. Where shall we meet?_

_Tobias_

Leshia stared at the letter with a meditative sigh. She'd of course written back immediately to Tobias Dredge her extremely good-looking co-worker from the bookshop last summer. She'd heard him practice with his band at the back of the storeroom when they didn't think anyone was left at the shop and she had to admit they were talented. The group of young men and their new lead female singer would be arriving by broom just past eight, meaning Leshia had to check everything was ready before going down to dinner.

Word had spread like silent wildfire to those lucky enough to be invited that should they be interested in a little 'study group' that was being hosted by Gryffindor, then they ought to show up at the Seventh floor landing at the allotted time. In order to head off the teachers several of Leshia's peers had agreed to stage a diversion by hosting a few guests in a small abandoned classroom on the other side of the castle. This mock event had been more publicly broadcast, so would hopefully act as a sufficient enough decoy.

Halloween had finally come and Leshia had retreated to their dormitory after lessons to gather her thoughts and mull over the strange events the week since Katie's birthday had brought. Most surprising of all was the way Raffa had suddenly kept his distance. Where she had been expecting a backlash to her hot-cold treatment of him at the party she was pleasantly surprised to see him dealing very well with her rejection of him. A very small deluded part of her mind couldn't help but ponder at a possible connection between the boy's sudden fear of her father in their Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons and his detachment from her…surely they couldn't be related?

Excitable voices sounded in the stairwell beyond the closed door and instinctively Leshia stuffed the letter under her pillow, but the voices were a mere false alarm.

"No doubt someone worrying about what they're going to wear," Leshia sighed tiredly. "If only my life could be so simple."

After stretching elaborately Leshia rolled off the mattress and ambled down the stairwell to find most of her friends very much engaged in a game of exploding chess. She dropped down beside them, checking her watch every now and then. Dinner was fast approaching and when only fifteen minutes remained she collared Rachel and dragged her towards the room of requirement.

"Leesh would you stop worrying? Everything's in place," Rachel complained amusedly and for a moment she peered at the mysterious crates beneath the sacking Leshia hadn't removed yet. "Are you going to tell me what that is yet?"

"Can you keep a secret?"

"Leesh!"

"All right," the blonde girl exhaled worriedly, before she crossed the large venue to the drinks table. She fingered the edge of the sacking for a moment, wondering how on earth Rachel was going to respond to what she'd done… Quickly the blonde girl shut her eyes and pulled the cloth away.

"Leshia!" Rachel exclaimed in complete shock. "Is that alcohol?" Slowly the smaller girl dared to open her eyes and nod slowly.

"Yes."

"Lots and lots and lots of alcohol?"

"Yeah."

"But where did you get it?" Rachel managed through her surprise.

"I um, well I bought it, technically."

"Leesh what are you going on about?"

"That day we went to Hogsmeade. I found a back way in to the Three Broomsticks and I took some…"

"You stole it?" Rachel was in disbelief.

"No not stole! I left more than enough gold to cover it."

"But how did you get it back to the castle?"

"Covered it with the invisibility cloak and levitated it all the way back. Then I hid it out in the grounds and went out at night to bring it inside…" Leshia trailed off and looked worriedly into Rachel's eyes. "Rachel are you mad?"

"Um," the redhead pondered for a moment, looking more shocked than anything else. "Actually, no not mad. It's, well it's unexpected…Hey! Is that firewhiskey?"

"Mate there's all sorts under there! I think it'll definitely make the upper years' night don't you?" Rachel managed a snort of laughter and then turned a genuine smile on her friend.

"This is a big thing Leesh. If the teachers ever found out about this then…well that would be some pretty major trouble right there."

"Yeah I know, but, well it's worth it don't you think?"

"Do you care that much?" Leshia grinned stupidly and shrugged her shoulders.

"I've shot myself in the foot with this Halloween tradition. Shot myself big time! I mean every year these vultures expect something bigger and better. Hopefully this'll just be so different that they can let me off the hook for a year to think of something else."

The girls lulled into silence while Rachel considered why Leshia hadn't involved her in the plan to get the alcohol. Couldn't she be trusted?

"Come on Rach," Leshia interrupted her friend's grim reverie as though she could read her thoughts. "Dinner will be served in a minute. We've got to act normal and ditzy like the rest of them."

Dinner was a lively affair with people talking about their upcoming plans for the evening. Katie was gushing about the ball and how fantastic it was going to be while Leshia kept a low profile from everyone trying to catch her eye, including half the teachers. What disturbed her, but wasn't all that surprising, was that Draco had remained for dinner, which meant he was on duty. On a night so primed for mischief and with such a precedent of troublemaking in the past it came as no surprise that Dumbledore wanted his 'best men' out on the prowl and Draco with all his terrifying mind-reading capabilities and his history of being the invisible strength behind the Ministry's crack Auror squad set him up as the most desirable of all would-be watchmen.

Only once did Leshia meet her father's eye and it that brief moment she fought hard to keep her mind blank. If he sensed the slightest weakness or hint of a plan they'd all be done for.

Shortly before the end of dinner Leshia slunk away from the table, well aware that all eyes were on her as she went. Rachel and the boys followed her all the way back to the common room in accordance with the plan, where she donned Katie's invisibility cloak and headed back towards the door with Rachel carrying a bag full of library books in need of returning.

"So we meet in the room of requirement right?" Leshia whispered from under her cloak, forcing herself to remain calm and collected. Rachel nodded firmly.

"Right."

"And what's the signal if you get caught and we have to abandon the whole thing?"

"I'll flood the seventh floor."

"Okay. Well, I guess this is it."

"Leesh," Rachel quickly stopped her friend by reaching out blindly and grabbing what she hoped was Leshia's arm through the cloak and giving her general direction a significant look. "You're not going to drink are you?"

The thought had been bothering her throughout dinner and for a moment Leshia was very glad for the cover the cloak offered her. The guilty look on her face spoke a thousand words her lies could never hide.

"I shouldn't think so. I can't stand the stuff." Rachel's shoulders drooped in relief and she nodded one last time to her best friend before she took off into the corridor with Leshia clambering out right behind her in case anyone untoward were loitering outside. As it happened, not one, not two, but three teachers were all a stone's throw from the Gryffindor portrait hole.

"Where are you going?" Leshia heard the strict voice of Professor Snape demand, but she didn't have time to listen out for Rachel's excuse, she had to get to the Northern Tower to rendezvous with the band.

She felt highly alarmed by the sheer volume of teachers patrolling the corridors and had to flatten herself up against the wall of the corridor several times to avoid being bumped into. How on earth were they going to get away with it? They'd need a miracle!

Finally Leshia reached the entrance to the North Tower and after checking several times to see that the coast was indeed clear, she opened the door to a crack and scrambled in. Without stalling for time she wrenched the cloak from over her head and sprinted up the spiral staircase. By the time she reached the door at the top leading out onto the turret she was out of breath, but the excitement of the night was finally catching up with her.

Tobias and his band were a little late and as Leshia waited out in the blustery cold night she prayed to every god she could remember the name of to ensure the night wouldn't be her last as a pupil of Hogwarts. Rachel's words were weighing heavily on her mind; if she got found out for bringing alcohol into school then she would be expelled, surely?

Thankfully Leshia wasn't given time to dwell on this unhappy thought as suddenly and without warning several figures swooped straight down on broomsticks from the thick clouds that had been hanging high in the sky. Leshia hadn't seen them coming, which boded well she felt afterwards, because if she hadn't seen them coming and she was sat up on the tower scouring skies for them then the chances were slim that anyone else had noticed.

"Tobias!" Leshia cried out in surprise when the figures pulled their hoods back to reveal a series of mid-twenties faces. Tobias Dredge was still as good looking as he had ever been, but when he flashed his charming smile Leshia didn't go weak at the knees, as had once been the case.

"Malfoy!" the tall man replied happily. "Good to see you. These are my mates Hobsy, Paddie and Deak." Leshia quickly shook the hands of the young men fanned out around Tobias. "And this beautiful lady is Vanessa." From the way Tobias snaked his hands round the attractive woman's waist Leshia could guess she was being introduced to his girlfriend, but nevertheless she shook the gothic woman's hand and smiled at her.

"Guys," Tobias was continuing. "This is the infamous Alecia Malfoy."

"She's smaller than I thought," Vanessa exclaimed tactlessly, but then realised what she'd said and smiled broadly. "Sorry kid, it's just Grunge and Magic've done a few pieces about you in the past and they always made you seem larger than life you know?"

"I'm sorry?" Leshia stuttered. "What was that?"

"Grunge and Magic, you know, the magazine?"

"They've written about me?" Leshia gasped.

"Yeah in the 'people to watch out for' bit. You didn't know? Man, Tobias is always saying how one day he'll be able to say he knows _the_ Alecia Malfoy." The short girl turned her demanding gaze on her ex-colleague, who merely shrugged his shoulders.

"She's exaggerating! Now then, what's the plan shorty? I mean we all went to school here, but that was like ten years ago, the teachers would probably suss something's up if we were seen wandering the corridors again."

"I've got it covered," Leshia explained with a grin. "You'll have to come one at a time though if that's okay?"

"Lead on," Tobias replied cheerfully, offering himself up as the first one to go. Leshia smiled at him and led him down the spiral staircase to the seventh floor. There she threw the invisibility cloak over the man and led him out into the empty corridor. They didn't speak as they went and came across no one, which could only mean the diversion was going ahead as planned.

The plan went off without a problem and soon Leshia was leading the last of the band members to the room of requirement, where she'd already settled the others in with a drink and the instruments of their choice. They were impressed to say the least and were all too busy reminiscing about their own Hogwarts days to pick holes in the fourth year girl's plan.

Vanessa was under the cloak and Leshia had nearly got her to the entrance to their venue when suddenly the hair on the back of her neck pricked up, which could only mean one thing…

"If you can clear your mind!" she whispered hoarsely to the invisible woman, before she spun around to see a figure approaching lazily from the other end of the corridor. "Keep going till you get to the tapestry of St Barnabas the Barmy." With this Leshia headed back down the corridor towards the telltale figure of her father patrolling the corridors, his hands pushed into his pockets and an unreadable expression on his face. By the time Leshia reached him he'd stopped in his tracks right beside the stairs.

"Hi," the girl called out when she reached him and such was her worry about keeping her mind blank that she forgot to act indifferent.

"Hi," her father replied and if she didn't know any better she would think he looked highly amused. "What are you doing prowling around the corridors at this time?"

"I was just heading back to Gryffindor tower to change for the ball."

"The ball? _You're_ going to the ball?"

"Yeah why not?" For a moment Draco smiled and hung his head a little, before he shook it with a heavy sigh.

"Just promise me you're not going to do anything stupid, okay?"

"Dad it's just a ball…"

"That's not," Draco began loudly, before he shut his eyes and started again in a gentler tone, "That's not what I meant."

"Dad would you just relax? I'm taking a break this year. Why does everyone always think the worst of me?"

Draco opened his mouth to speak when suddenly hurried footsteps on the stairs preceded the arrival of Severus Snape, looking invigorated by the prospect of catching pupils in the midst of their troublemaking.

"Malfoy!" he called out when he saw Draco, but then dropped his voice when he saw whom the tall Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher was standing beside. Both father and daughter were looking at the Potion's master with the same frown. "May I have a word?" Snape asked significantly and he started back stepping down the stairs, indicating his friend follow him.

"Of course," Draco sighed, before he looked down at his daughter feeling sorry their somewhat normal conversation had to be cut short. "Remember what I said."

With this he descended the stairs to reach Snape's side and then both of them were gone. Leshia wondered if the old hook-nosed man had caught wind of the series of events her friends were stringing for the teachers, but she didn't have too long to dwell on it; there was still so much to be done.

Only once she was sure enough time had passed Leshia rushed towards the tapestry she had instructed the peculiar woman Vanessa to find. The corridor was deserted, but Leshia didn't dare to call out. Hoping beyond hope that she hadn't lost the lead singer of the band Leshia made for the door that opened into the room of requirement and walked in to find the band tuning their instruments. They turned round eagerly while Leshia held the door open long enough to give anyone who had been lurking around under an invisibility cloak enough time to rush in after her.

"Vanessa?" she whispered hoarsely before she shut the door. Silence.

"Hey Shorty, wasn't Ness supposed to be with you?" Tobias called to the panicking girl by the door.

"Oh! Yeah, but we got separated when…" Leshia fell silent and stared at a patch of air seemingly no different to the patches either side of it. She couldn't explain it, but she had somehow sensed something…or someone. "Vanessa I know you're there," the girl uttered darkly and shut the door she was still holding onto forcefully. Sniggered laughter broke out from an invisible source before quite suddenly Vanessa appeared in a swirl of cloak, which Leshia took back with a cold look.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, it was just a joke," Vanessa laughed accusingly, before she sauntered over to the stage to join her band.

"Very funny," Leshia managed lightly, though her eyes remained dark. "I need to show you guys something. It's important." The band watched the blonde girl with interest while she walked across the room and retrieved five small silver bottles from a small chest and five small drawstring pouches. She stared at the bottles with an almost wistful look.

"What have you got there?" one of the men asked curiously.

"Little bit of go-faster-juice?" Vanessa piped up hopefully. Leshia glanced up with a furrowed brow and shook her head.

"It cost me an arm and a leg to get these, so don't use them unless you absolutely one hundred percent have to," she explained while she walked over clutching the bottles between her hands.

"Well what's in them?" Tobias asked with slight concern.

"It's Polyjuice potion," Leshia replied thoughtfully, feeling very proud of herself for having the forethought to start the procedure of procuring the potion weeks ago from a very dodgy man she had met in the Three Broomsticks who she was assured by Tom and Luke Weasley could get her anything she needed, at a price.

"Isn't that the potion that transforms you into someone else?" Vanessa asked, seemingly a lot less sure of herself. Leshia nodded to the woman slowly and held up the drawstring pouches.

"In here are the hairs of some Gryffindors who were kind enough to donate them. If for some reason the teachers find us or I'm not around to get you back to the tower then drop one hair each into your bottle and drink it. You'll be able to sneak out in disguise."

The girl doled out a bottle and a pouch to each band member and was happy to see they kept them safely tucked away on their persons. Everything was slotting together nicely, the fourth year girl thought to herself reassuringly.

"You've really thought of everything haven't you Malfoy?" Tobias asked after a while, a small smile on his face at the ingenuity of the girl he'd once thought to be an adorable young girl but not much more. How wrong he'd been.

"Well," Leshia replied with an impish smile. "That remains to be seen."

XXX

Katie hung her head over her glass of punch sombrely. The ball was a disaster, a very poorly attended disaster. This had obviously been expected, as the great hall was barely decorated and only a small spread had been laid out. The raven-haired girl felt a stab of annoyance and pain at the effort she'd made to find a beautiful dress for the occasion and all the ballroom dancing she had been practicing in honour of this formal night.

"Of course no one was going to show up," the girl whispered bitterly.

"Hmm?" Katie looked up quickly to see Luisa watching her worriedly, unsure of what to do about this peculiar turn of events. The girl had been excited about the prospect of a ball, but was exceedingly confused as to why the great hall was practically deserted. Perhaps this was just the way Hogwarts balls were.

"Sorry, I'm talking to myself," Katie whispered with a sad smile. "Shall we go?"

"Back to the tower?" A small smile eased onto the bespectacled girl's face and she shook her head marginally.

"No, I know somewhere we can go."

Katie and Luisa were some of the last to admit defeat and leave the great hall. Stealthily Katie led the way up the winding routes till they reached the seventh floor corridor a stone's throw from Gryffindor Tower. It was empty and dark and while Luisa marched straight past the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy on her way to the Fat Lady Katie lingered behind and thought hard about a venue where a great party could be taking place. Before her very eyes a door appeared.

"Katie are you coming?"

"In here Luisa," the raven-haired girl called back and she reached for the door handle, it was vibrating with the heavy baseline of a song she couldn't hear yet. The curious foreign girl quickly reached Katie's side and together they pushed the door open onto a raving party.

"Wow," Luisa gasped while Katie's eyes went wide; Leshia had outdone herself. Quickly the two girls darted inside and shut the heavy door behind themselves. The lighting was dim and the dancing too excitable; Katie couldn't make head nor tail of the happy youths and took to leading Luisa through the crowds in search of their friends.

"Katie!" Quickly the tall girl spun around to see Rodeo and Parys bound towards them. "You made it!"

"Yeah," she conceded with a coy smile, happy at the way Rodeo had looked her up and down appreciatively. "The ball was a bit of a dive really."

"Can you believe this?" Parys exclaimed jubilantly. His eyes didn't seem to be focusing very well Katie thought to herself. "Leesh has actually managed to get the Mullet Heads! Look!" Katie followed the boy's hand to the band of young adults performing exuberantly on stage.

"Who are the Mullet Heads?"

"They're this totally wicked band that gigs round London and stuff. They're really amazing!"

"Are they famous?" Katie asked sounding impressed, eliciting a shrug from Parys.

"To some of us yeah!"

"Parys are you okay?"

"Yeah why wouldn't I be?"

"You're swaying," the raven-haired girl remarked cautiously and after glancing to Rodeo she could see he too didn't seem all that steady on his feet. Come to think of it…most of the dancers seemed to be lacking a normal level of coordination.

"Well that's the best part!" Rodeo suddenly piped up. "Fancy a beer?"

"A _what_?"

"Well it's this drink see and…"

"I know what beer is!" Katie snapped furiously. "There's beer?"

"And wine and firewhiskey and some other stuff too, come on," Parys explained and he led the way for an incredulous Katie to the by-now empty barrels and crates that had provided the teenagers of Hogwarts with a boozed up night they weren't likely to forget any time soon.

"I can't believe you're all drunk!" Katie exclaimed in complete fury. The boys seemed a little hurt.

"Kate we've only had a beer each, it's not like we're drunk," Rodeo complained. "I mean my dad lets me have beer all the time."

"Where's Leshia?" The boys glanced to one another with a look of irritation. "Guys, where is Leshia?"

"Um, you might not want to go talk to Leshia right now," Parys uttered softly.

"Why not?"

"She went over the top Katie," Rodeo explained darkly and in that instant all the joy was gone from the boy's face. "Went totally mad first hour or so. We left her in on the cushions to sober up a little…"

"Sober up?" Katie cried out in complete horror. Rodeo and Parys nodded to each other grimly.

"We keep checking on her, Rachel too. Don't worry she's fine. She just wanted to party a little too hard," Parys explained.

"I don't see how her being wasted is fine, take me to her?" The boys obeyed instantly, far too terrified of the look on the girl's face to disobey her. En route to the comfortable floor cushions in the other corner of the room Katie could see how much the pupils of Hogwarts were enjoying this party. Everywhere she looked smiles shone out and the girl was very thankful to see nobody seemed too inebriated. Perhaps Leshia had drunk it all by herself, she thought crossly.

"She's right over here…" Parys fell silent, his eyes scouring the people lounging on the cushions for their friend.

"Where?"

"Um, she's not here anymore."

"Bloody brilliant!" Katie hissed furiously and she wheeled on the two boys with an icy cold glare. "I thought you were looking after her?"

"Guys!" Rachel's voice drifted out over the music and moments later the red-haired girl appeared out of breathe. Her face was creased with worry, but when she saw Katie stood beside the boys it crumpled with relief and she threw her arms around her cousin.

"Thank God you're here," she uttered sounding upset. "Leshia's gone. I've looked everywhere."

"Calm down Rachel," Katie comforted her cousin, before she pulled back and gave her a strong smile. "She can't have got far, we'll spread out and look for her okay?"

Everyone agreed and went their separate ways in an attempt to find the drunken party host. With so many nooks and crannies to the venue the room of requirement had generated the possibilities were endless and while they searched the night ticked steadily on. All seemed hopeless when suddenly Rodeo, who had been searching over by the maze of rose bushes, caught sight of a head of blonde curly hair over the top of a thorny bush. He sped up and rounded the corner to find Leshia enveloped in the arms of a boy he didn't even recognise.

"Leshia!" he called out angrily and before the kissing couple knew what was going on Rodeo had wrenched the offending young man back, his fist raised, ready for a fight.

"Rodeo?" the blonde girl asked sounding disorientated. Her partner, a boy Rodeo could vaguely place on closer inspection as being hosted by Slytherin, smiled smugly at the intruder. He didn't seem the slightest bit intoxicated, which was far from what could be said for the unsteady girl he'd been exploiting.

"Who the hell are you?" Leshia's protective friend demanded, pulling the girl into the crook of his arm.

"I'm Joel mate, now who the hell are you?" the foreign boy spoke in a heavy Australian accent.

"I'm the guy who'll kick the crap out of you if you go near this girl again. Got it?" Where this fury was coming from Rodeo wasn't quite sure, but all he knew was he had to get Leshia away from this place. He had to protect her from these predators and even from herself if need be.

This Joel boy laughed mockingly, but slunk off to find something better to do leaving Rodeo guiding Leshia towards the door step by step. It took him an age to get his friend back to the cosy common room in Gryffindor Tower, leaving behind the exuberant party.

In annoyance Rodeo let Leshia drop down on the comfortable settee, before he sat down next to her, his feet up on the coffee table, his elbows resting on his knees. He couldn't describe how he was feeling, and wanted nothing more than his friend to snap out of her ridiculous stupor.

"I can't believe you let yourself get like this Alecia," the boy finally grumbled in annoyance.

"I don't care," she slurred in response, before she clawed on the back of the settee to bring herself up into a sitting position. "I don't care about anything anymore."

"Don't say that," Rodeo complained. "That's such crap! Of course you care."

"No I don't! I don't feel…" The girl pushed her fingers firmly into her bare sternum, which her low top revealed. "I don't feel anything anymore. I'm tired Rodeo. I can't…I can't do this anymore. I just want to wake up and be me again. I want to be me again."

Her face was so distressed that Rodeo forgot instantly of the mess she'd made of herself. His expression softened and after sighing heavily he slouched down in the settee at Leshia's side. Too intoxicated to hold herself up straight Leshia slumped against him.

"So cut the crap and be you again," the boy told her quietly. "_I_ want you to be you again. We all do."

"How? Rodeo tell me how! Please!"

"I can't tell you how Leshia. Only you can tell yourself how to stop taking everything one step too far. Take tonight; everything was perfect, but why did you have to get like this? Leshia? Leshia!"

The girl was asleep, her heavy eyelashes sealed tightly shut.

"Hmmm?" Rodeo stared at the girl with pain-creased eyes and shook his head.

"Nothing. Just go to sleep."

So Rodeo sat for two hours. He sat and he waited and he listened to Leshia's heavy breathing. Not wanting to disturb her he ended up reading a discarded fashion magazine from cover to cover. The loyalty he showed to the girl might have been touching had anyone been watching his devoted vigil at her side.

Only when the clock in the common room struck twelve did Rodeo deem it necessary to try and move his friend. Who knew when the others would be coming back? And besides, he wanted more than anything for Leshia to salvage what she could of her dignity.

"Leesh," the boy spoke loudly. "Leshia get up now, you've got to go to bed."

"Hmm, in a minute," she whispered through her heavy sleep. Rodeo though wasn't taking no for an answer and after climbing to his feet forced Leshia to do the same. He guided her up the first stairwell and then paused at the base of the second leading up to the girls dormitories.

"I can't actually get you up there Leesh," he told his friend, who seemed to be sleeping though she was standing independently at his side. "But I'm going to stay here and listen to your every step till you reach your dorm and call to let me know you've made it okay?"

"Okay," the girl whispered and allowed the boy to point her in the right direction.

"Stairs Leshia," Rodeo reminded her. Obediently Leshia took the stairs one at a time, hanging onto the banister to prevent herself from tumbling down them. Finally she reached the fourth year dormitory.

"I'm here," she called down. "I'm here. I can see my bed."

"Good, go and lie in it!" Rodeo called back, and he tried to crane his neck to catch sight of the girl with no luck. "Leshia? Walk towards your bed!"

"Okay. Goodnight Rodeo. Goodnight!" Her voice had become a slur, but the boy could hear her getting fainter and fainter as though she had moved into her dormitory. Quickly he ran up the boys' stairwell and into the fourth year boys' dorm directly beneath the girls' one. He strained his ears to listen out for the telltale signs of someone passing out on the floor, but no such sound came, so with a heavy sigh of relief he dropped down on his own bed and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Get it together Leesh," he whispered into the gloom.

XXX

Severus Snape stared at the door to the room of requirement. Lined up at his side were the other patrolling teachers of Hogwarts, all waiting for the clock to strike twelve giving them permission to go and see what the student body had been up to all night. Dumbledore of course had known about the party the pupils liked to think was strictly underground, but in actual fact was monitored by the teachers they were trying to fool. He had forbidden his staff though from interfering until the youngsters had been given a chance to enjoy the fruits of their labour.

The underground party had become a Hogwarts tradition and Dumbledore was a man who valued tradition, conventional or not.

Draco ambled over to his friend's side and smiled at the look of apprehension on the hook-nosed man's face.

"Easy Severus," he warned fondly. "You look like you're ready to go in their wand aloft cursing them all."

"Depending on what is going on in that room, we may have to." The younger man chuckled amusedly.

"They're in the middle of the castle, how bad can it be?"

Severus raised his eyebrows, wanting very much to contradict his younger friend, but finally the clock had struck twelve. Professor McGonagall led the way and after exchanging a glance with her colleagues she pushed the door open into the crowded party sending an instant wave of panic through the celebrating pupils. In the distance the music stopped and a swarm of pupils managed to get out the door in the five minutes it took for the teachers to regain control over the situation.

"Silence! All of you!" Snape called over the frightened youths. "Who is responsible for this?"

A deathly silence swept across the room and while Snape tried to glare the answer out of the pupils around him Draco ambled round the side of the room searching out for a blonde curly head amidst the crowds.

"You," Snape hissed, targeting a small Ravenclaw first year. "Who is responsible for this highly illegal party?"

"I don't know sir!" the young boy mumbled.

"Oh really. Where, pray tell me, is Alecia Malfoy?"

In the distance Draco glanced back at his hook-nosed friend with a stern look. Why did he have to assume immediately that it was Leshia who had been the criminal mastermind behind this get-together?

"I haven't seen her sir," the first year replied truthfully. Snape, sensing no lie, looked to the boy's neighbour, a sixth year girl in Hufflepuff.

"You, have you seen her?" Again Snape received the truthful reply that Leshia hadn't been seen and as far as anyone was aware, wasn't at the party. Snape sensed his grip slipping away from him, after all how could they pin this on the girl if she wasn't even at the damn party? Across the hall Draco had spotted a familiar group of youngsters and quickly he waded towards them.

"Rachel, Katie," he called out to his daughter's best friends. They avoided his gaze. "Where's Leshia?"

"She's not here sir," Rachel replied truthfully. Draco's brow darkened.

"She's not? Where is she then?"

"Back at Gryffindor," Katie now spoke with equal truth. The girls had been informed by several of their peers that Rodeo had been spotted guiding Leshia out of the hall and were safe in the knowledge that they could enjoy the rest of the party without having to worry about their friend. So in telling Draco that Leshia was back in the tower, they weren't strictly lying.

"Why?"

"She's having an early night," Katie replied and jerked her eyes briefly onto Draco's confused ones, before she looked away again.

"Oh my Goodness! This boy is drunk!" A horrified silence swept across the room while everyone stared at Professor McGonagall holding the arm fifth year boy who seemed very unsteady on his feet. Draco immediately darted from the girls' side to join a shocked looking Snape at the front of the hall.

"How did they get alcohol?" Draco asked in an undertone and now he scanned the faces of the older youths he could see indeed, that many of them were slightly inebriated.

"Nobody move a muscle!" Snape called out to the frightened pupils, who obeyed and remained absolutely still while the teachers did a sweep of the hall searching for evidence, but some intelligent young witch or wizard had already seen to it that the barrels and crates had already been shrunk to fit inside the pockets of several of the youngsters till they could find a way to better dispose of them.

With no one to pin the blame on and very little else they could do the teachers excused the pupils and escorted them back to their common rooms. Despite the anticlimactic end to the night the conversations that gripped the attention of pupils from all houses later that night was how this Halloween Bash had been the best one yet!

XXX

Come Wednesday, the morning after the night before, Leshia hung her head in shame at her behaviour and in pain at the headache that would not leave her, not even for a moment. Everywhere she looked people were either giving her an enormous thumbs up for the fantastic party they had enjoyed or bowing their heads together with their neighbour to discuss how drunk Leshia had been. The girl could barely remember what had happened after the fifth drink and she certainly didn't remember her run in with the Australian boy Joel.

Throughout the morning Leshia's ears were ringing from the amount of times she heard her name and the word drunk in the same sentence from passers by and it wasn't long before the consequences of her actions caught up with her. After break the fourth year Gryffindors and Slytherins had their hourly Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson to get to. Leshia's legs grew suddenly sluggish and she wanted more than anything to turn and run.

Katie and Rachel, though sympathetic towards their friend, wisely pointed out to the girl that it was better to get it over with and face her father rather than to run away from him and delay the inevitable. Leshia couldn't have felt worse, both mentally and physically while she waited in line with her peers outside her father's classroom. She loitered near the back of the queue and went rigid with fear when the sound of her father's heavy footsteps rang out down the corridor. As usual the youngsters passed their teacher at the door, but today they shrunk from his furious gaze as best as they could. Their dichotic teacher seamed livid!

None hid their face so much as Leshia herself and when she reached her father his very aura was nearly enough to prevent her from going anywhere near him.

"Get in," her father uttered dangerously when he saw his daughter stalling. As Leshia passed her father she felt his hand on her back shove her inside and then the door slammed.

The lesson itself was highly unpleasant with Draco's every interaction with his daughter an icy cold one. Leshia dreaded the end of the lesson. What on earth was her father going to do to her? She was sure she had never seen him so angry.

Predictably, when the bell went all Draco had to do was catch Leshia's eye to express to her that she ought to remain behind. Her peers couldn't have escaped the class any quicker, leaving it with a slam of the door that sealed Leshia's fate inside. The girl was alone in the mess she'd made. Draco looked on the miserable form of his oldest daughter for a long time, before he finally approached her desk. She went rigid with fear and avoided her father's gaze, even when he sat down on the desk in front of her.

"The whole school's laughing at you," he finally announced, his voice dangerous and low. Leshia felt a twitch of annoyance; that was a lie! Yes the school were gossiping about her drunken behaviour, but in the same breath they were applauding her for planning and executing yet another wicked party. "Where's your pride Leshia? How could you have fallen so hard?"

He was raising his voice, making Leshia's temples throb painfully. Before she knew what she was doing Leshia found herself grumbling,

"I've got a headache! Can't you just get it over with and leave me alone?"

For a moment there was silence in which Draco's eyes went wide and his fists clenched into balls at his side.

"You're lucky that's the worst of it!" he suddenly growled. "Alcohol? Are you serious? You're not even fifteen yet!"

"Stop talking so loud."

"I can get a lot louder Alecia!" Draco barked as though to demonstrate his point. "Sort yourself out, you're a bloody disgrace."

"Yeah well you…" Leshia trailed off, lifting her eyes for the first time to meet her father's furious gaze.

"What? How can you possible defend yourself?" he demanded cruelly.

"I…"

"Your friends deserve a bloody medal for keeping you safe. What would you have done if they hadn't looked after you huh? Do you have nay idea how foolish you've been acting lately?"

"Oh just shut up!" Leshia cried out, too upset to care anymore how big a hole she was digging for herself. "You're doing my head in."

For a moment Draco inhaled and exhaled loudly, in disbelief at Leshia's behaviour, before quite suddenly he lurched from the desk and reached Leshia's side in one step. She was slouched down in her chair and leaned back worriedly when Draco rested one hand either side of her head and bent down close, a beyond angry expression on his face.

"Now you listen to me," he ordered furiously. "Either you get your act together or we _will _pull you out of this school. Do I make myself clear?" Leshia's heart skipped a beat and she found herself balking. Was her father serious? How could he do this to her? How could he try time and time again to ruin her life?

"I'd run away," she managed hoarsely.

"I'd find you."

"No you wouldn't!"

"I would."

"You never found mum! I had to do that and _I_ was only twelve."

Quite without warning Leshia found herself wrenched from her chair and dragged towards the door. She'd pushed her father too far, but somehow, she wasn't done yet. She couldn't stop the words tumbling out of her mouth.

"I wish I never had. I wish I'd never found her then none of this would be happening." As though the last of his patience had snapped Draco spun his daughter round and squeezed her shoulders so tight it hurt the girl.

"Say something like that again and you'll not know what's hit you," he whispered, so angry and so dangerous Leshia had never believed it possible. In that split second she could see why evil wizards and witches had crumbled beneath those eyes…how he had murdered in cold blood. Murderous…that's how he looked.

"I wish she'd never been born," the soft tearful words escaped the trapped girl. Draco gulped, trembling slightly with the emotional turmoil. Leshia winced, preparing herself for the worst, but before she knew what was going on she'd been wrenched into a powerful hug.

"It's not going to work," her father was speaking into the side of her head. "You're not going to push me away. I'm not going to let you. You can act out all you want, but all I'll do is stick closer to you than before."

A sob escaped the girl and she tried to pull away from her father, but he was true to his word and merely held her more tightly still.

"I hate you!" she cried into his shirt and she pushed her fists firmly into his chest, trying to break away. "I hate you! And I hate _her_! Everything was perfect till _she_ came along! I hate all of you. Just leave me alone!"

Leshia was distraught and Draco knew he wasn't going to be able to change her mind…not now, not like this. Quite suddenly he let her go and she stumbled backwards from trying to push him away. She met his eye with hatred and anguish in her face, before quite suddenly she fled the room surprising the sixth years waiting in line out in the corridor. Draco swallowed hard and pressed his finger and thumb tightly into the corners of his eyes…that went well.

**XXXXXXXX**

End of Part V


	6. Part Six

**Generations: Rebel Inside**

**Part VI**

_Lucius Malfoy, the servant of He Who Must Not Be Named, has been sighted here in this very country! Ministry officials claim the information we have gathered from a very reliable source cannot be correct, because surely_ the_ Lucius Malfoy, most wanted criminal in the Wizarding world, can't simply be walking about the country he once terrorised?_

_Well, this reporter says it is possible. No! This reporter is going one further and is stating absolutely and without doubt that yes Lucius Malfoy is back in Britain. Unless Minister Crayik and the Auror department at the Ministry make some real moves to catch this killer, then the first steps towards the revival of the most evil notorious wizard in history will be taken._

_X_

_Lucius Malfoy spotted a stone's throw from the Leaky Cauldron! Could it be true? Is the Death Eater at large in the capital? Ministry says no, seventeen independent witnesses say yes!_

_X_

_Woman claims she saw Lucius Malfoy, notorious criminal topping the Ministry's most wanted criminals list, drinking a cup of tea down her local café in Soho._

"_I was just ordering a bacon butty like I always do when who should I clap my eyes on sat by the window reading the Daily Prophet? Lucius Malfoy is who! Right here, in the middle London! Takes me five minutes to get to the Leaky Cauldron from my caf it does. When's the Ministry going to take him seriously eh?"_

X

Leshia stared at the newspaper clippings with a heavily wrinkled brow. Her original plan had seen her sitting down to do the difficult essay they'd been set in Potions, but the scrapbook on her bedside table had caught her eye instead. After fighting the urge to examine the clippings and focus instead on Modding Potions Leshia gave in to the inevitable and pulled the big book towards herself along with a map of the nation's capital.

"Soho," she whispered to herself and ran her finger along the paper till she reached the area sandwiched between Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road. How could her grandfather be hiding in so central a location? "It doesn't make sense," she sighed heavily.

It was all a bit too close for Leshia's liking. Charing Cross Road was the location of the Leaky Cauldron: the entrance to Diagon Alley, and only fifteen minutes up the road in the nice area known as Bloomsbury right between King's Cross Station and the pub lay Dockstreet, Leshia's home. That her grandfather might be lurking within easy distance of her mother came as little comfort to the teenager, but she found consolation in the fact that surely the Ministry was well aware of these developments? They would know the truth behind the wild claims; they would know whether Hermione was in danger…

"Leesh! Ready to go down for dinner?" Rachel came bursting into the room. So after shoving her clippings into the scrapbook and pushing the Map within its pages also Leshia climbed to her feet and joined her best friend. Who was she to ruin Rachel's evening with her fear mongering?

Nearly a week had passed since the Halloween showdown, yet still Leshia received approving grins from those who had enjoyed the party in the room of requirement. For the most part the blonde girl tried to ignore them, but she couldn't help but feel invigorated by the boost her status had received. The only drawback? She hadn't been able to look her father in the eye since that dreaded day when she had totally lost her rag.

"Hey Malfoy." Leshia turned around at the entrance of the Great Hall to see Mila the quidditch captain jogging towards her. "Training after dinner okay?" Despite herself Leshia grimaced.

"In that?" she asked pointing skywards to the storm clouds brewing in the enchanted ceiling.

"Yes in that! We face Slytherin in two weeks; we've got to be on form. Besides, I've heard they've been putting in more hours than they normally do. I bet they're coming up with new tactics. So we've got to stay ahead of them. Is that going to be a problem?" The older girl's stare was firm, so after letting her shoulders droop slightly petulantly Leshia shook her head firmly.

"No, no problem," she replied grimly.

"Great," Mila replied brightly, before she moved on to the next member of the team she came across.

"Do you think if I take one of your uncles' vomiting sweet things she'll believe I'm sick and let me off the hook?" Leshia asked in an undertone while the two friends found their places halfway down the table. Rachel laughed appreciatively.

"Hey those things are pretty convincing. There is a drawback though."

"Oh yeah, what's that?"

"I used up my last one in Charms last week and you can bet Katie hasn't got any."

"Bugger," Leshia sighed. "Ah well, maybe I'll just faceplant myself in the mud from ten feet up, she'd have to let me off then."

"Well yeah, but you'd have to land on your head and I'm not sure your brain, what's left of it I mean, can take much more of a beating."

"Do you mind?" Leshia laughed. "There's plenty of brain left to damage in here."

The pair of jokers had reached their friends by now, who looked up amusedly at the conversation they were very much engaged in. Katie suppressed a smirk and raised her eyebrows at her friends.

"It makes so much more sense now!"

"What does?" Leshia asked with a frown.

"That the reason you are the way you are is because you're competing to see who can lose the most brain cells."

"Charming," Rachel complained fondly while reaching out towards the food hungrily.

"Not a fair fight though is it?" Leshia remarked with a smile just as Rachel took an enormous bite of her Cornish pasty.

"Mwhaf's waf?" the girl asked in a spray of crumbs. "Owwy," she added sheepishly.

"Well you know if we were having a competition like that you'd have the upper hand. Hell you'd have a gigantic head start!" Leshia quickly apologised in a gale of laughter when Rachel accosted her, spraying her with more pasty crumbs.

"Play nice children," Katie chuckled appreciatively. "Why are you talking about brains anyway?"

"Leesh is trying to get out of quidditch training."

"No not get out of," Leshia grumbled with a smile. "Just thinking aloud. Mila's a piece of work, she'd have me off the team if I started skiving practice."

"Hey you guys!" the fourth years looked up interestedly to see Nicola and Ashley running towards them, their faces bright and excited. It took the pair a moment to get their breath back as they dropped down at the dinner table bursting with news.

"What's the matter with the pair of you? Are they handing out free make-up samples in the entrance hall?" Parys teased them, earning him two highly disgruntled looks.

"How do you know what a make-up sample is?" Leshia now teased him in turn, who went a little red in the cheek and shrugged his broad shoulders.

"I know many things Young Malfoy." The fourth years dissolved into laughter.

"Guys this is serious!" Nicola insisted loudly, silencing her peers immediately.

"All right, keep your hair on."

"We've just seen Filch hanging up a notice outside."

"It's calling for all bands to sign up!" For a moment everyone stared at the two girls.

"What bands?" Rachel finally asked with a wrinkled brow.

"_You _know, school bands."

"Not really no," Parys now spoke. "I didn't know Hogwarts had any bands. What are they signing up for?"

"Look there's no need to get on our case, we're just passing on the message," Ashley complained haughtily, before she turned in her seat so just she and Nicola could share a private conversation. The others stared at one another in confusion.

"Okay then," Rachel remarked slowly. "I wonder what that's about then."

"Hang on," Leshia announced and she swung her legs over the bench. "Back in a jiff." The others watched while the blonde girl scampered up the aisle towards the entrance hall where she disappeared for a few minutes before scampering back with a silent smirk on her face.

"What did you see?" Rodeo asked hopefully as Leshia made herself comfortable again on the bench.

"Filch threatening me with a drawing pin," Leshia replied through her sniggers. "You should have seen him, he was wielding that thing around like it was an enormous sword!"

"Well what else did you see? What was he putting up?"

"It's called Hearing Aid whatever it is and they were right, the sign is all about bands signing up."

"Think they're going to tell us now what it's all about tonight?" Rodeo asked curiously.

"Either that or they'll have to repeat themselves a few hundred times tomorrow when people come knocking on their door asking the same questions," Leshia responded thoughtfully.

The mysterious sign was enough of a talking point to keep the fourth years entertained while they enjoyed their delicious dinners. Leshia was rather hoping Dumbledore would climb to his feet an announce what this Hearing Aid thing was all about, but before any such an announcement could take place she found herself being hailed by the rest of the quidditch team.

"Oh crud," she grumbled, before she swung her legs over the bench and climbed to her feet. "They couldn't have waited ten more bloody minutes."

"Enjoy the rain Leesh," Rachel called after the blonde girl happily.

"Yeah we'll be thinking of you when we're curled up in front of the fire," Parys added.

"You're not funny," came the seeker's dismal reply, but the grin she shot her friends over her shoulder contradicted the sentiment in her voice.

Training was simply awful. Leshia couldn't see a damn thing in the dark and the rain gave her such a battering she was sure that bludgers had been falling from the sky not raindrops. After an hour Mila lost the battle to motivate her team and the six youngsters descended to the ground against their captain's wishes, before heading inside in a steady trudge.

Thankfully Gryffindor common room was warm and inviting and filled with the exuberant conversations of their friends and peers. Out of nowhere several musical instruments had appeared and in every corner of the room little groups of friends had splintered into hushed conversations while one member scribbled on parchment whatever it was that they were agreeing upon. Leshia didn't have time to wonder what on earth they were talking about and instead rushed upstairs to change into some warm dry clothes.

The dormitory was deserted, so after she had changed Leshia ambled back downstairs to find her friends crammed round their usual table and window box. They were wearing the same expressions as all the other secretive little groups and for a moment Leshia felt alarmed. This was all to do with this Hearing Aid malarkey whatever that was and if it involved instruments and bands…well that wasn't a good thing in the tone-deaf girl's eyes.

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" she greeted her friends when she reached their side. She rather startled the small group and suddenly they pulled back with big smiles on their faces.

"Hearing Aid," Katie replied on their behalf.

"Which is what when it's at home?"

"It's a concert, put on by school bands before the end of term dance," the bespectacled girl spoke clearly, as though she were reading by rote.

"Right," Leshia spoke slowly.

"It sounds really good, the school bands are going to start the night off and then there's going to be a proper band during the actual dance. It's a send off for the exchange guests."

"Yeah and it's all to raise money for the Hearing Maladies and Calamities ward at Saint Mungos," Rachel added cheerfully. "It sounds wicked Leesh. We were just saying _we_ should form a band!" For a moment Leshia's face fell forward in shock and her eyes betrayed the fear she felt deep inside at such a notion.

"Ha! Leesh doesn't think it's a good idea either!" Rodeo crowed triumphantly.

"Yes she does!" Rachel countered passionately. "Don't you Leesh?"

"Um…well…uh…" the blonde girl struggled for words. "Well who would do what?"

"That's what we were just talking about," Katie explained. "Hey Leshia sing for us won't you?"

"What? No!"

"Come on, we're trying to decide who's the best singer out of us girls."

"I'll make it simple for you, it's definitely not me," Leshia insisted firmly.

"Yeah I bet you say that, but then you'll turn out to be amazing or something," Rachel complained happily.

"No I bloody well won't!"

"Leesh it's just us, there's no need to be scared."

"I'm _not_ scared!"

"Well then sing us a song and stop being such a wuss," Parys finally concluded. With the eyes of all her friends and their foreign guests on her Leshia felt her heart racing, but she couldn't back down from a challenge! No one called Alecia Malfoy a wuss, no one!

"Okay, but you asked for it!" For a moment Leshia settled herself and cleared her voice, before she broke into a highly croaky and out of tune rendition of the latest chart topper to take the wizarding world by storm. As though in defence to the terrible sound Rodeo and Parys threw their hands over their ears while Rachel visibly winced. After only one verse Leshia came to a stop and glared furiously at her friends.

"There. Happy?"

"No!" Parys complained firmly. "Jeez Leesh, I think you broke my eardrums."

"I tried to warn you."

"God, are you part mermaid or something?"

"I dare you to hold me underwater and find out," Leshia growled in a low voice, her eyebrows lifting as she spoke adding to the all round frightening expression on her face. Parys jerked backwards quickly and shook his head.

"No it's okay, I believe you."

"Okay so we know who's not going to be the singer, that's for sure," Rachel now concluded with a cheeky grin. Leshia rolled her eyes but had to smile. "So Leesh what _can_ you do?"

"Nothing, absolutely nothing. I am by far the least musical person in the world."

"Can you strum a few chords on a guitar?"

"I highly doubt it."

"Can you play the keyboard?" Katie piped up hopefully.

"Unlikely."

"Well what can you do?" Rachel asked with a furrowed brow.

"I can stand in the audience and clap, I bet I'd be really good at that!" Leshia suggested hopefully, but Katie suddenly got a look on her face that suggested she'd got a very good idea.

"That's it! You can keep a beat, I know you can! You can be our drummer."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, I bet you'd be great at that," Rachel chimed in happily. "You're good at keeping a rhythm going."

"But I don't play the drums," Leshia complained obviously, her expression clearly betraying the fact that she thought her friends had gone mad. Was the fact that she'd never played a musical instrument really so unimportant in a discussion in which she was suddenly a part of a band?

"You do now. All we have to do is get someone to teach you."

"This is all a bad dream right?" Leshia groaned and she dropped her face into her crossed arms on the table.

"No, now listen to the pair of us, you've got to decide who's going to be the lead singer," Katie instructed, before she burst into a pretty melody. Leshia listened though she kept her face buried and when Katie finally came to the end of her song the blonde girl kept her face buried, but lifted her thumb to show she'd heard.

"Next," her muffled order came before quite suddenly a voice like no other belted out from one of the table's occupants. Leshia's hand froze mid air at the sound of that beautiful singing, before very slowly she lifted her head to stare in wonder at the owner of that fantastic voice,

"Rachel?" she uttered in wonder. "Rach you can sing?" Rachel brought her brief song to a close and shrugged meekly at the attention she was receiving from the shocked table.

"Sort of."

"How the hell have you been hiding that?" Leshia demanded. "Are you wearing the speech stealer?" Rachel laughed indignantly and held her shirt down to show her neck was free of the magical device that held the power to alter voices. "Sorry, it's just I've never heard you sing like that before…that was amazing!"

"Katie was good too though," Rachel quickly spoke up when she noticed her cousin dejectedly leaning back in her seat.

"Yeah yeah, but you!"

"Luisa and I will be your backing singers Rach, you've definitely got to belt that out to the school," Katie spoke up, putting her own pride away in order to praise her cousin.

"Um aren't you guys forgetting something?" Rodeo finally spoke up when the girls lulled into silence. They turned to stare at the boy in confusion. "Well don't you technically need a band to go with your little vocal percussion getup?"

"You play guitar don't you Rodes?" Rachel piped up curiously. "And Parys you do as well don't you?"

"Um, a bit, not a lot actually." The boy was being coy, that much was obvious.

"Well who says we want to be in your band?" Rodeo complained, a small smile on his face.

"Oh stop being such a git and just say yes," Leshia chuckled, though her gaze was accusing. "If they're getting me to play drums for them when I haven't got a musical bone in my body, then you can bloody well get up there and play guitar. Both of you!"

The pair of best friends grinned at one another, before finally they nodded in agreement. It was settled! What followed was an exuberant discussion on what their new band was going to be called, which lasted well into the night. The friends were some of the last to amble up to bed and when Leshia eventually found herself curled up under her duvet she had to smile at the name they had finally settled upon,

"The Small Band," she whispered into the gloom, smiling at the sound of it and the fact that it had been named so in a blatant attempt to mock her short stature. 'I'll have the last laugh,' she thought to herself cheerfully. 'They think I can hold a beat? Well, they haven't heard anything yet!'

XXX

The following morning the members of the Small Band gathered before breakfast to sign up their names. Leshia hung back shaking her head with an amused smile. She continued to think this wasn't the best idea they'd ever had, but didn't say anything of it. The girl could see how excited her friends were about the concert and if there was one thing Leshia didn't have a problem with that was sacrificing her own humility for her friends' happiness.

Throughout the day the youngsters conferred on where best to hold their first practice session after class and had all but decided to try the room of requirement when they overheard some of the older pupils talking about some new music rooms that had been set up on the fourth floor.

During their last lesson of the day, Potions, Leshia was the only one amidst her friends who wasn't having trouble concentrating. Quite the opposite could be said for the youngster, who listened to every word Professor Snape said and recreated his example of a Hair Lengthening potion to the tee. Needless to say the old Potions master was highly suspicious behind the transformation of the girl he'd always used to make an example out of.

"Miss Potter," the aged wizard growled towards the end of the lesson when the pupils of his Gryffindor and Ravenclaw class were supposed to be putting away their things and cleaning the dungeon. "I have had it! This is the third time I have asked you and Miss Cardosa to stop chattering. Detention after dinner and five points from Gryffindor."

Katie's eyes went wide, while everyone in the class turned to stare at her jaws hanging. Katie Potter get a detention? Had the world gone mad? If the most well behaved girl in the class could get a detention then anything was possible the surprised class felt grimly and managed to keep quiet for the remainder of the lesson. Katie was still a little shaken up while her friends led her out of the classroom.

"Detention," she finally mumbled. "Me?"

"Kate it's not the end of the world," Leshia managed through a snigger. She found the role-reversal between herself and Katie highly amusing despite the shell-shocked look on her friend's face.

"I can't believe I've got a detention!"

"Think of it as an eye-opener," Rachel chimed in happily. Where Leshia found the situation humorous, Rachel found it down right hilarious and hadn't stopped grinning since. "You never know, you might enjoy yourself."

"Unlikely, not the kind of detentions Snape likes to dish out."

"Oh Leesh don't!" Katie groaned. She remained out of sorts until they reached an available music room on the fourth floor. They were hard pressed to reach it on time, with several other bands fighting for practice time in the new facilities, but Rodeo and Parys had sprinted ahead to beat the disgruntled sixth year girls who had been heading for the door. The girls couldn't suppress their smirks when their older peers marched past them cursing the boys' names.

"Nice one boys," Rachel congratulated them at the door and strolled inside to find the once-classroom nicely decked out with all the instruments they could ever need and plenty more they would never know how to use.

"Where's Raffa?" Katie suddenly asked once everyone had ambled in and shut the door. Parys sniggered and shook his head.

"Raf said he wanted nothing to do with this train wreck, he's in the common room."

"Huh! Lovely!"

"Well he didn't exactly use those words, that's all me."

"You're such a charmer Parys," Leshia chirped with a lopsided grin, before she ambled over to the drum set and sat down. She contemplated the enormous contraption with one eyebrow raised. "Um, shouldn't there be sticks or something? Shall I use my wand?" Experimentally the girl reached out and tapped on a drum, but unintentionally set it off into a continuous and horrifically loud drum roll.

"Leesh shut it off!"

"How?" the blonde girl cried back, her hands over her ears.

"_Muffliarus drums_," Katie's determined voice came over the racket and quite instantly the drum fell silent. "Don't do that again," she admonished sternly. Leshia shrugged her shoulders meekly and glanced around for some sticks.

"Ah, there they are."

Everyone manoeuvred themselves into position, briefly trying out their new instruments ever so quietly so the others couldn't hear, before they all faced off with one another expectantly.

"Um. What now?" Rodeo spoke what everyone else was thinking.

"Shouldn't we decide what we're going to play before we actually try and play something?" his best friend added cockily.

"Good point," Rachel conceded with a cheery grin. "How about we try something easy like 'My little broomstick'?"

"No way!" came the general consensus against the childish nursery rhyme Rachel had suggested.

"Sounds like a kids song," muggle-born Rodeo piped up, who alone hadn't violently objected to the suggestion.

"It _is_ a kids song," Katie replied, but then she shrugged. "It would be an easy song to start with though."

"Okay okay, as long as you promise we won't have to play it for anyone else," Parys grumbled.

"It never leaves this room," Rachel agreed with a bright smile. "Okay. Everyone ready?"

"Um no!"

"Rodes just play along, it's really easy."

"Right then, on three. One, two three," Rachel called out, before she broke out into a beautiful rendition of the nursery rhyme her mother had once wooed her to sleep with. For a moment Rodeo winced while trying to play along with the others, but gradually his face fell and he raised his hands up to his ears; never before had he heard anything quite so dreadful! Parys' chords were the wrong key for Rachel's singing. Katie's harmony was out of tune. Luisa's mumbling had absolutely no structure or lyrics nor a discernable tune for that matter. And Leshia's drumming…well it would be more aptly named noise-making, rhythmless noise-making to be precise.

"Okay okay! Guys stop playing, it sounds dreadful!" the boy called over the racket after only the first verse. One by one his friends stopped and glanced to one another with equal grimaces, before quite suddenly they dissolved into laughter.

"Man, we sound like crap!" Parys spoke on behalf of the group.

"We sound worse than crap! This band would make even my singing look good," Leshia agreed.

"Think it's too late to take our names off the list?" Katie suggested grimly.

"Now hang on a second!" Everyone looked to Rachel in surprise at the determined tone in her voice. "Yeah we sound abysmal, but we can't just give up. Come on! This'll be fun if we just prepare a little more. Leesh you need drums lessons and you two need to plan together what harmonies you're going to sing. Parys we need to play in the same key and Rodes you need to learn the song. I know it's a lot, but it _can_ be done!"

For a moment there was silence, before Katie finally spoke,

"Where did you learn the word abysmal?"

"Oh sod off, you're not the only one with brains in the family you know," Rachel laughed good-naturedly. "Now what do you say?"

"This really means a lot to you doesn't it Rach?" Leshia spoke up soberly and after a few moments the redhead girl nodded earnestly.

"I really want to do it."

"Okay fine, we'll do it, but damn it we're picking a better song!" Parys grumbled good-naturedly.

"So who exactly am I going to get drum lessons from? I don't know anyone that plays the drums!"

"Hang on," Katie piped up with a big smile on her face. "I've got an idea."

XXX

_Experienced drummer sought to teach Alecia Malfoy how to play. Extreme patience a must! Those with sensitive ears need not apply. Enquiries should be made in person before Sunday._

Leshia hadn't thought a school the size of Hogwarts could hide so many drummers with the amount of offers she received. Several of the prospective drum teachers were young men in the upper years that Leshia had never even spoken to and for three days her cheeks flushed furiously at having to speak to so many strangers. Come the weekend Leshia was sure she couldn't handle any more propositions when finally a tempting offer dropped right into her lap.

"You know I can't believe you three." Quite without warning Katie and Rachel's sixth year cousin Tom dropped down next to Leshia on the bench over breakfast startling all three girls into staring at him.

"What have we done?" Rachel asked amusedly.

"That bloody notice of yours is what."

"What's wrong with it?" Katie asked defensively, it had after all been her idea and her wording.

"Well the fact that you put it up to start with. Don't you remember that Luke plays the drums? He's really good too."

"Damn!" Rachel suddenly slapped her hand to her forehead. "I totally forgot about that!"

"It shows, poor guy's been waiting for you to ask him. Might want to get in there quick before he changes his mind." Leshia glanced up the table to see Tom's cousin and best friend Luke sat chatting to their friends and without hesitation she jumped to her feet and hurried up the row of Gryffindors. Luke was the most innocuous and appealing choice out of all the proposals she had received. She'd far rather receive lessons from a boy she'd known her whole life and who she knew to be a good laugh than a complete stranger.

"Luke!" she attracted his attention once she'd reached his side. After finishing his sentence the young man turned around with raised eyebrows.

"Leshia, what can I do for you?"

"I totally forgot that you play the drums!" the girl exclaimed apologetically. "I'm so sorry. You see, I sort of need lessons and I've been trying to find someone to teach me. Do you think you could…what I mean to say is I'd far rather have them from you…I mean…"

"I'd love to," Luke stated cheerfully, saving the girl the embarrassment of trying to find the right words. He was rewarded with an enormous grin from the girl and after agreeing to hold their first lesson in one of the music rooms the following afternoon Leshia returned to her friends feeling much happier about the prospect of learning to play the drums.

XXX

Hermione shifted nervously on the slate floor in front of the hearth. Uneasily she rearranged the beautifully wrapped parcels in her arms and tucked a wisp of hair behind her ear. She'd been stalling for a few minutes now while behind her Ginny played with Evie at the kitchen table, but she wouldn't be able to hold off the inevitable for much longer. The end of lessons were approaching and if she didn't get moving soon the corridors would be filled with pupils, who would no doubt want to waylay her on her way to her husband's study.

"Just go already," Ginny's amused voice came. "What are you nervous about?"

"I haven't had any contact with my daughter in weeks Ginny. Not since…" Hermione trailed off and hung her head. "I'm so frightened of what she's going to say when she…when I see her. How's she going to react? The last time she was round we didn't exactly part on good terms."

"Don't worry about it so much. You're bringing her presents, I hardly think she's going to blow up in your face."

"Yes, but she's not expecting me and…"

"Hermione go!" Ginny laughed genially.

"Okay," Hermione exhaled determinedly, before she reached out for a handful of floo powder and stepped into the grate. After smiling shakily at her best friend she threw it to the ground and cried out, "Hogwarts family chambers."

In a whirlwind she disappeared, finding herself transported to the chambers she and Draco had once called home. At the sight of the bare walls and the covered furniture Hermione felt her breath catch in her chest. The room looked so lonely…so desolate. Without dwelling too much on the state of the chambers she had once so adored she rushed out into the empty corridor beyond and briskly made her way towards the first floor. On her way the young woman marvelled at how Hogwarts always felt the same, no matter how long she was separated from it. Somehow it would always feel like home.

Thankfully the laden-down mother reached her husband's study without being seen. She didn't particularly fancy having to explain herself to curious pupils wondering why the former Ancient Runes teacher was stalking the school once more, not when she was so worried about what her daughter was going to think of her dropping by. The sound of Draco finishing off his lesson wafted out from the slightly ajar door and after depositing the parcels she held on his desk Hermione tiptoed over to it. She had always been curious about the way in which Draco taught, as she had never been able to envisage it. Her husband was such an unpredictable man; even to this day she found it hard to picture him teaching children as young as eleven.

"So hopefully you will now see fourth years the difference between a Bottom Up approach to complex countercurses and a Top Down approach. I wonder though." Hermione leaned in closer while her husband paused in his discussion with his class. "Can anyone tell me of any alternative approaches they might have read about? Yes Miss Potter?"

"The Symptomatic approach sir," came Katie's studious voice.

"Excellent, five points to Gryffindor. Could you tell the rest of the class what…" Hermione was rather disappointed that her husband's lesson had to be cut short by the bell. She had thoroughly enjoyed listening to the dynamic young man engage his class and marvelled at the way he composed himself so differently when faced with twenty teenagers to how she had imagined.

"Oh well," Draco was continuing. "You will have to tell us on Friday. Right then, no homework tonight; I hope you're all working on the assignment I set you on Monday. Remember it's due next lesson. You can go." The scraping of chairs preceded the gentle murmur of conversation to waft up to Hermione's ears and for a moment she wished she could be back in her classroom. Oh how she missed the profession she'd grown to love so much in the short time she'd practiced it.

"Miss Malfoy could you please remain behind?"

Hermione darted back to the desk to pick up the parcels she had deposited there. Carefully she arranged them all in her arms while the sound of the classroom emptying down below continued.

"What have I done?" Leshia's suspicious voice came moments after the door had shut.

"Join me in my study?" was the only reply her father granted her.

"Look I've got to get to my drum lesson, it…"

'Drum lesson?' the confused mother mouthed to no one in particular. Since when had her little girl taken up the drums? And why hadn't Draco informed her about it?

"Just for a minute, I promise it won't take long."

Hermione's lip trembled slightly at the sound of footsteps on the stairs leading from the classroom to the office. Her nervousness was rising and quickly she tried her face in a series of arrangements, finally settling on one she hoped was warm and loving in time for the door to open. Draco ambled in first, a proud smile on his face when he met his wife's eye.

"Mum!" Leshia exclaimed in surprise the moment she followed her father into the study. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you one last time before you turned fifteen darling."

"Oh." The girl didn't seem displeased, which was all the encouragement Hermione needed to force her nerves away and approach the girl.

"And I wanted to give you these."

"What's all that?"

"What do you think they are?" Draco chuckled amusedly.

"Mum you shouldn't have," Leshia spoke sadly, though from her expression it was clear she was mentally unwrapping the parcels, trying to guess what was inside.

"Don't be ridiculous," Hermione admonished adoringly, before she deposited the gifts at Leshia's side on a console table. Quickly she swept her daughter into a hug, which after a moment's hesitation the teenager returned. "I can't believe how long it's been. I swear you've grown."

"Mum," Leshia grumbled, a smile nearly pulling at her face. "That's such a lie, but um…thanks for trying." Quickly the girl pulled away from her mother and smiled awkwardly at her. "I um, I'm sorry, but I have to get to my drum lessons."

"I know I heard," Hermione sighed, but she put on a brave face even though she wanted desperately to hear from her daughter where this new interest had come from. She couldn't have hoped for more really and the fact that Leshia hadn't run at the sight of her was a step in the right direction. "Happy birthday for tomorrow darling. Be good." Leshia lost her precious control for a moment and a small smile crept onto her face.

"I will." She allowed herself to be hugged one last time before she made her way towards the door, casting a look back at her parents and the parcels on the table.

"I'll have Tally deliver them in the morning," Draco assured the girl amusedly.

"That's not what I was…" Leshia began, but then shook her head. "Never mind. Mum I…" She couldn't bring herself to say the words, but the expression was clear on her face; she was happy to have seen her mother, she was happy Hermione had come.

"I know," the young woman assured her daughter, who nodded once more and then fled the room leaving her mother beaming after her. Baby steps that's all it needed, as long as they were taking those small steps in the right direction Hermione could wait till Leshia was ready.

XXX

November sixteenth was just like any other Thursday for most of the inhabitants of Hogwarts. For a select few however, it involved getting up horrendously early to surprise Leshia on her fifteenth birthday. Their clumsy clattering about woke the birthday girl before they were given the opportunity to surprise her, but she, like Katie before her, suppressed her laughter and allowed her friends the benefit of believing they had succeeded.

She thoroughly enjoyed the kafuffle they made with their noisemakers and the singing birthday cards that flapped about her four-poster the moment the curtains were torn back. Tiny fireworks were going off all over the place while the four Gryffindor girls and their foreign friend sang Happy Birthday for a delighted Leshia.

"Wait! What smells like burning?" Rachel asked with a disgruntled frown before the others had even brought the song to a close.

"The presents! They've caught fire!" Ashley suddenly cried out resulting in a stampede to exit the four-poster. Katie quickly saw to the smouldering wrapping paper that had unfortunately become a little singed beneath the celebratory fireworks.

"They're okay, just a little brown," Katie offered embarrassedly. "Sorry Leesh." The blonde girl wrinkled her brow for a moment and turned her attention to the mountain of singed presents, before quite suddenly she cracked up and shook her head.

"It's okay," she laughed. "Don't worry about it. You guys this is great!"

"Open your presents!" Rachel piped up happily and before Leshia had even rubbed the sleep from her eyes the red-haired girl was at her side edging her forward with a friendly nudge.

"Do _you_ want to open them?"

"She's been eyeing them up all morning," Katie chuckled in agreement while Rachel's cheeks flushed furiously. "I don't think she realises it's not her birthday for another two weeks yet."

"Oh sod off, I do so realise! Leesh that big one there's from me!" Taking the hint Leshia grinned and reached out for the oblong-shaped package wrapped in an imaginative way. She couldn't hide her sniggers. "Yeah well you try getting a roll of paper round that thing, it was bloody impossible."

"It wouldn't have been if you'd let me help," Katie countered in a sing-song voice eliciting yet more sniggers from the birthday girl, who quickly raised her hands to silence the squabbling cousins.

"Firstly I love it so who cares? And secondly as my first birthday wish of the day you two have to stop arguing over everything! Seriously, you're like an old married couple."

"Oh your first wish? Just how many birthday wishes are you entitled to make?" Katie asked with an amused smile eliciting a shrug from her friend.

"As many as I like."

"Leesh you're totally forgetting about the presents again…"

Without any further ado Leshia ripped the paper from Rachel's gift, which soon sent her and everyone else in the room into gales of laughter. Just where the girl had managed to find boots with such enormous platform heels was quite a mystery, but everyone had a fantastic time toppling round the dormitory in them before Rachel revealed another more thoughtful gift she claimed was the real present, which soon spurned on the others.

Leshia was beyond grateful for all the fabulous presents she was receiving and couldn't find the words to express herself, until finally she came across the pile she had seen in her mother's arms the day before. There were both lavish presents and thoughtful tokens amidst the loot and with each parcel she unwrapped Leshia felt another stab of shame, followed promptly by a backlash of emotion and hurt.

'They started this,' she reminded herself grimly while she busied herself with gathering up the mountain of discarded wrapping paper the morning had generated. Her friends, sensing what was bothering their friend, would not allow her to wallow in self-pity and soon had the girl smiling again – though perhaps it was more of a grimace – when they led her down into the common room, which burst into a spontaneous birthday song in her honour. Before it had even come to a close the birthday girl found herself on the receiving end of more hugs than she could provide and only when it felt like she had embraced the population of Hogwarts did she finally find herself facing a grinning Rachel.

"What?" the blonde girl asked with a wary smile. Without a word her best friend lifted a large piece of parchment absolutely jam-packed with scribbles from her friends wishing her a happy birthday. Leshia was silenced while she glanced over all the kind words, though a smile did pull at her face.

"Thank you all so much!" Leshia laughed and she hugged the parchment for a moment. "You're all so soppy!" Laughter rang out, which Leshia was highly thankful for, she wasn't good at expressing emotion in any serious sort of way.

"Shorty!" Quickly the girl winced and braced herself just in time before she was pulled into a backwards embrace by two strong arms. "Happy birthday!" With a beaming smile Leshia laughed when she felt Owen Gabriel kiss the top of her head before he let her go and spun her round. The tall young man was brandishing a poorly wrapped parcel, which Leshia shyly accepted.

"Owen you shouldn't have."

"Just shut up and open it," the young man laughed fondly. Cheeks blushing furiously Leshia eased the shimmering wrapping paper from her present and quite promptly burst out laughing.

"_Losing your mind? The ten-step recovery programme to getting the old you back,_" she read aloud through her laughter. "I repeat, you shouldn't have!" Owen grinned lopsidedly and dragged Leshia into the crook of his arm.

"Have a good one Malfoy, behave yourself." There was a deeper significance to the young man's words than the amused expression his face let on.

"Thanks Owen."

Being the birthday girl came with certain perks Leshia thought to herself happily after the shower queue allowed her to cut in line. Yes she could cope with the embarrassing moments such as arriving for breakfast and having a large proportion of the great hall burst into song if people would continue acting as though she were a visiting royal. Alecia Malfoy wasn't the sort of girl who took extreme pleasure out of being pampered, but every now and again she felt she could handle it.

Thursday was arguably the best day of the week in terms of timetabling for the fourth years, as they were lucky enough to avoid run ins with the strictest teachers, namely Professor Snape, Professor Tripper and Professor Malfoy. This allowed Leshia to truly enjoy her day. Suffice to say come lunchtime she was thoroughly excitable, so much so that she found herself in a peculiar competition with Parys that had them both careening down the corridor trying to pull the other's shirt over their heads.

"Parys!" Leshia cried out across the entrance hall, as her friend darted into the great hall for lunch having just pulled her shirt up so high her entire midriff had been on display. "I'll get you for that!" The rest of her friends laughed at the girl's cries and followed in Parys' wake into the great hall leaving Leshia to catch up, but before she could take even two paces she fell into shadow.

"Miss Malfoy!" Leshia froze and turned around very slowly to grimace up at the filthy expression on her least favourite face in the castle: Silas Tripper. "Do you need reminding about the school rules?"

"No sir," Leshia offered quickly, though her tone was ripe with attitude and belligerence. The youngster hadn't quite mastered the art of keeping one's temper in check when faced with a madman with a short fuse.

"Running in the corridors," Tripper began snidely, ticking off his imaginary list on his fingers. "Shouting. Failing to keep your shirt tucked in and to top it all off displays of public indecency…"

"What?" Leshia exclaimed in amazement. "When?" Tripper narrowed his eyes at the girl and twitched slightly, it was as though he wanted to lunge forward and snap her in two, such was his dislike for the teenager.

"Does the whole school need to see your bare flesh Miss Malfoy?" The way Tripper's lip curled at the words made Leshia feel dirty. It was quite clear the teacher berating her found nothing so disgusting as the thought of her bare midriff. She would far rather he think nothing at all of the parts of her body. "Well? Or do you think yourself to be so desirable that everyone wants to have a look?"

The cruel man was pushing it too far, but what could Leshia do about it? Tripper was a bully, but he was a bully who had the authority to do as he pleased.

"What is going on here?" Leshia let out an audibly relieved sigh before she spun around to see her father materialise at her side, his eyes narrowed in hatred at his nemesis. "Perhaps you need to be reminded of decent conduct as well _Professor _Tripper? There are limitations to what you ought to discuss with a fifteen-year-old girl."

Leshia fought the smirk that wanted very much to jump onto her face at the sight of Tripper floundering to defend his actions. She edged closer to her father until he was practically between herself and the man who had been bullying her moments ago and settled down to enjoy the show.

"I was just punishing her for disrupting the peace…"

"This is a school Professor," Draco cut in sharply and he indicated the hyperactive youngsters making their way to the great hall for lunch making all manner of noise. "Filled with young people. What hope of finding peace amongst their exuberance do you mean to find?"

"_That_ girl was…"

"That girl," Draco growled darkly. "Has a name." Tripper grinded his teeth together, positively seething with rage. He looked like a toddler about to throw a tantrum, which didn't help Leshia in trying to suppress her laughter.

"Miss Malfoy was being indecent." Draco glanced momentarily down to his daughter with narrowed eyes, but Leshia quickly shook her head to attest to her innocence. "She should be punished."

"I'll deal with it."

"But I'm the one…"

"Are you _really_ challenging me on this?" For a moment the two men sized one another up, both arching slightly as though ready to pounce. Finally Tripper was the one to back down. Though he would gladly rip Draco Malfoy to pieces limb by limb he had his instructions. Challenging the man over the right to punish his own daughter would no doubt lead to an altercation he would get severely sanctioned for.

"It's not worth it," the scarred man finally sneered and only after he had cast the girl hiding slightly behind her father a filthy scowl did Tripper stride off in a furious mood. Draco watched him leave in silence, his fists clenched, until finally he turned on his daughter with a more relaxed expression.

"Happy birthday," he offered gently. Leshia beamed up at her father, gloriously happy he'd been on call to get her out of a sticky situation. It didn't enter her mind that they hadn't spoken since that enormous argument she had run from.

"Thanks dad!" Without thinking she threw her arms round Draco's shoulders and hugged him ever so briefly before she pulled back.

"What were you doing that was so indecent?" her father asked amusedly, unable to hide the joy on his face at this seemingly normal encounter.

"Oh that," Leshia grumbled happily. "Parys just ripped my shirt up that's all."

"He did what?"

"Dad relax, we were playing a game. You should have seen how bad I got him…" Leshia trailed off at the bemused frown on her father's face, so quickly she gave him a bright smile. "Thanks for stepping in."

"Do yourself a favour and try and stay out of his way," Draco replied gently, not having to mention that protecting her from that cretin was his number one priority. "He won't hesitate to find any excuse to get at you now he feels he's entitled. I'd hate to see you spending your birthday locked away in his study." Leshia nodded quickly wanting very much to tell her father how much it meant to her having him there to protect her,

"You know…" she began, but was suddenly silenced by Rachel calling out her name. She turned in time to see her best friend poke her head out the Great Hall and then seeing she was interrupting a private family moment grimace apologetically and retreat. Leshia turned back to her father, but the moment had gone and Draco knew it.

"Be good," he offered his daughter with a small smile, before he hesitantly leaned forward and kissed the top of her head. For the first time in months Leshia stayed rooted to the spot and didn't pull away. Only once her father's footsteps had died away did she rush towards the hall to seek out her friends and tell them all about Tripper's outburst.

Leshia heeded her father's advice and kept her excitement in check for the rest of the afternoon until finally lessons drew to a close and the fourth year Gryffindors ambled back to Gryffindor tower. She next went about the enjoyable task of opening yet more gifts and finding places for all her new possessions. With little storage space she had to resort to keeping several presents in her trunk, but when she went to open it her eyes fell on a large book lying amidst the assortment of unwanted possessions already residing in the large coffer. With a curious frown Leshia reached out to the _Secret of Strength_ and stroked the cover.

"I'd forgotten about you," she whispered, wondering if she might have to start reading it soon.

"Hey Leesh!" Quickly the blonde girl looked up to find her friends barrelling into the room and without thinking she pulled her hand back and started loading things into the trunk. "We were thinking of squeezing a Hearing Aid practice in, fancy it?"

"Oh seriously? On my birthday?" Leshia grumbled.

"Come on, it'll be fun," Katie countered, seeing the blonde girl's reluctance for the farce it was. After a lopsided grin Leshia shrugged her shoulders and picked up the pair of drumsticks Luke had kindly given her for her birthday, apparently they had been enchanted to make drumming slightly easier and the girl was very eager to try them out.

"The first hint of criticism though and I am out of there," Leshia complained fondly. She was yet to practice with her friends without one of them voicing concerns over her lack of progress.

"Yeah, but Leesh how will you ever learn if nobody ever says anything bad?" Rachel complained with a big smirk leaving Leshia rolling her eyes in her best effort at feigned-annoyance before leading the way down the spiral staircase.

"You know it's not too late for me to remove myself from this little getup you people insist on calling a band. I mean it's not like I haven't got anything better to do with my time. Mila's been driving us pretty hard lately so I could do with extra practice and besides, I know plenty of people I can hang out with who don't fancy sticking me on stage looking like a plonker!"

"Hey we're just sticking you on stage," the jubilant red-haired girl countered happily. "The whole plonker thing is all you."

"Charming. Um, why am I doing this again?" For a moment the birthday girl spun around on the step and glanced up at her friends with an innocent expression.

"Because you love me and I always stick my neck on the line for your crackpot plans that always nearly get us killed."

"Or maimed for life!" Katie piped up cheerfully from behind her cousin.

"Not to mention psychologically scarred."

"Yeah yeah, all right. I had no idea the pair of you were so delicate," Leshia sniggered, before she spun round and carried on till she reached the bustling common room. Without any other further ado the blonde girl strode across the room to where Parys, Rodeo and Luisa were relaxing at the fourth years' usual table. "On your feet, we're rehearsing apparently."

"Aw are you serious?" Parys groaned amusedly. "I just got my hearing back after yesterday!"

"Rachel's putting her foot down I'm afraid."

"Well can't you use the whole 'it's my birthday' card Leesh?" Rodeo asked hopefully.

"I tried that, didn't work. Come on guys, you know how much this means to Rach." Leshia sounded serious. Rachel and Katie, who had taken their time in making their way over were finally nearing hearing range and the last thing Leshia wanted was for the redhead girl be made to feel bad for wanting to rehearse. Rachel was the sort of girl who would put a brave face on if everyone complained and agree to let them off the hook, but she would hurt inside and Leshia knew it.

"Yeah," Parys sighed and he gave the approaching Rachel a big thumbs up. "Seeing as it's Rachel!"

With their grumblings shot down the members of the Small Band ambled down towards the music room on the other end of the castle. Thankfully there was one left available and the would-be musicians spent the next hour perfecting their rendition of 'My little Broomstick'. That they would have to start rehearsing a proper song soon was at the forefront of everybody's minds, but until they could play a simple song together there would be no hope of choosing something more crowd-pleasing. Finally when Rodeo and Parys started striking in protest Rachel conceded they had practiced enough for one evening and allowed her friends to amble back to Gryffindor tower.

"You know unless we start playing something cool soon I'm going to have to start getting detentions to get out of practice," Parys mused aloud. Rodeo sniggered in agreement at his side.

"Well then we'd have to bring detention to you," Rachel countered cheerfully. "Anyway, what did you have in mind?"

"Something by the Mullet Heads?"

"What that band that played at the Halloween Bash?" Katie now piped up with a wrinkled brow.

"Yeah what's wrong with them?"

"I think Kate would rather we played something by the Cauldron Chicks," Leshia teased with a wicked grin aimed at the bespectacled girl.

"For your information," Katie replied snootily, while the rest of the band voiced their indignation at such a notion. "I've gone off them."

"Have you? What was it, the fact that they're lead singer is a husband stealing harpie or the fact that they're music is crap?" Leshia asked cheerfully, trying to shake the memory of the band's lead singer trying to come on to her father in their second year. After a moment's though Katie shrugged.

"Bit of both actually."

"Why don't we get together later on and listen to Katie's wireless to get some inspiration?" Leshia suggested. The others stared at her with furrowed brows. "What?"

"Later? You mean there's nothing else going on?" Rodeo finally spoke on behalf of the group.

"Like what?"

"Well seeing as it's your birthday and you are the party queen, maybe a get-together of some sorts?" Parys now spoke. For a moment Leshia shifted her mouth to one side, before finally she shrugged and shook her head.

"I'm not planning anything." By now they're reached the Fat Lady and after uttering the password the birthday girl ducked inside ahead of her friends, who all glanced to one another with the same thought weighing on their mind. Surely Leshia deserved more than a quiet night in listening to the wireless?

XXX

"I can't move," Leshia groaned, while she rested her hands on her bulging stomach. At dinner she had well and truly gorged herself and was now paying the price. "Seriously, I think I'm going to burst. Agh Parys! Don't touch me!" The tall boy laughed while he rested his feet on the girl's swollen stomach.

"But you're so round and comfortable for once," he countered amusedly. "Normally you're just skin and bones, this makes a nice change."

"You're lucky I can't move," the girl grumbled to a chorus of laughter from her friends. "Or I would seriously squash you."

The common room had started to empty, as groups of conscientious youngsters sloped off to their dormitories to get some homework in or an early night. So quiet was the room that the fourth years had even managed to secure a whole settee for themselves. All in all the atmosphere wasn't exactly what you could call festive, which seemed a shame.

"Why is it that you don't want a party Leesh?" Rodeo finally asked, speaking the thoughts of all those gathered.

"What?"

"Well you know, it's your birthday, shouldn't you get a party same as Katie?" the boy persisted. Leshia furrowed her brow before shrugging her shoulders.

"It's kinda too late to get anything started now."

"Oh come on, it's never too late!" Rachel now piped up.

"Look I'm not that bothered anyway."

"You? Not that bothered?" The redhead girl was finding her feet, setting off alarm bells in sleep Leshia's head.

"Rach where are you going?"

"The bog if you must know," came the cheerful response and off Rachel flounced in the direction of the bathrooms. Leshia didn't notice her making a beeline past the sixth years, where she had a quiet word in her cousins Luke and Tom's ears. In fact when the grinning freckled girl sat down the birthday girl was so unassuming that something might be amiss that she was succumbing to a light doze after such a heavy meal. Consequently Leshia quite missed the mischievous grin that passed between her friends once Rachel had retaken her seat.

"Hey why don't I go get my wireless so we can start looking for a song for Hearing Aid?" Katie suddenly spoke up obviously. So suspicious did she sound that Leshia's eyes snapped open and eyed the bespectacled girl guardedly.

"What are you up to?" the blonde girl finally asked warily.

"Nothing," her friend replied shrilly. "I thought we were going to look for a song tonight that's all." After a few moments in which Leshia stared deeply into the girl's eyes, seemingly trying her hand at her father's unnerving ability to read people's minds, she shrugged and nodded.

"Sounds like a plan."

While the birthday girl stifled a yawn Katie jumped to her feet and scarpered up the stairs, feeling happy to be released from those icy grey eyes. Sometimes Leshia Malfoy could be a little bit scary, the raven-haired girl thought to herself with a shudder. By the time she returned with the wireless Katie could see a web of whispers spreading out round the common room unbeknownst to the birthday girl still dozing on the settee. Curious pyjama clad youngsters had appeared and were loitering about as though waiting for something, their eyes flicking to the curly blonde haired girl every now and then to make sure they hadn't missed anything. Katie felt she had half a mind to tell everyone off for being so obvious, but as Leshia was still enjoying the after-effects of her enormous meal and was only heeding her round stomach at this moment in time, she felt she could let it slide for once.

"Here we are," the tall girl announced brightly while depositing the wireless on the coffee table at Leshia's feet. Quite abruptly the blonde girl sat up straight.

"Katie! You scared the life out of me. Take it easy. What's the rush?"

"No rush!"

"Then why are you out of breath?"

"Leesh would you relax already?" Rachel complained amusedly.

"Well I would, but you lot are up to something and I don't like it," Leshia countered with a small smile before she slouched back into the settee once more, adamant she wasn't going to take part in any of their antics.

"Why do you always think the worst of us?"

After sizing up her friends for a few moments Leshia stretched and started climbing to her feet.

"Well if there's nothing going on then I may as well just head up to bed. I'm knackered."

"Um Leesh why don't…" Katie began worriedly, but before she could quite get her sentence out the portrait door to the common room swung open and in scurried a half a dozen people or so laden down with looted food and drink. Tom and Luke Weasley headed up the group, both levitating two crates of Butterbeer bottles ahead of themselves.

"Where are you off to shorty?" Luke asked jovially.

"Yeah sit down!" his cousin ordered fondly. "We can't have the guest of honour making a runner can we?" Leshia started laughing and spun round to glare at her friends, who were all smiling and doing their best to look innocent. All around the pyjama clad Gryffindors were bursting into a rendition of Happy Birthday while the looters set up their bounty on one of the tables.

"I thought I told you?" Leshia said fondly once the singers had burst into a round of 'hip hip hoorays'.

"And we decided unanimously not to listen," Rachel replied cheerily. Katie wrinkled her brow at her cousin, wanting very much to enquire where she had learned word 'unanimously', but now was not the time.

"Leesh if you still want to go to bed then bugger off," Parys laughed. "More cake for the rest of us."

Had Leshia any reservations left to voice, they were soon whisked from her mind by the wireless cranking into action. Lively music filled the room and quite suddenly an instant party had sprung into life.

"Since when have I been able to say no to a party?" the blonde girl finally managed with an impish smile. Her friends cheered jubilantly and airlifted Leshia towards the newly set up refreshment stand where pyjama-clad Gryffindors were already serving themselves.

"Make way, birthday girl coming through!"

"Come on Leesh, blow out your candles and make a wish."

Leshia found herself deposited in front of a cake laden with candles. Everyone in the room watched expectantly while Leshia pulled her hair back with her hands and leaned over the birthday cake. She paused for a moment while a small smile wormed its way onto her face, before she blew out the candles and made her wish.

XXX

"Did you hear? Gryffindor threw another party last night."

"Why?"

"Leshia Malfoy's birthday wasn't it?"

"Yeah I reckon so. I wish Hufflepuff would throw parties once in a while."

"There's more! I heard she got off with one of those Americas Institute boys."

"What the same one as last time?"

"No, a different one, an older one, sixth year apparently. I think his name was Fed or something like that."

Draco sped up past the gossiping teenagers in the corridor and shut his eyes tightly for a moment. He had been hearing about his daughter's most recent humiliating exploits all morning and had no desire to find out any further details. Just what was happening to his once innocent daughter was quite horrifying to the outcast father, but what could he do? Leshia had shut him out and set herself on self-destruct.

It was the end of the day bringing the lesson the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher had least been looking forward to: the fourth year Gryffindors. He strode onwards with an increasing feeling of unease, towards the classroom where he would encounter his wayward daughter. He was dreading having to keep quiet about his displeasure at hearing about her distasteful behaviour and would far rather not see the girl at all than deal with this latest development in her downwards spiral.

As he rounded the corridor Draco's eyes fell on the uniform line of fourth years. They were exuberant at the prospect of the weekend. Leshia seemed to be keeping a low profile, indeed, Draco did not see her at first, but as he got closer he saw a small figure slouched against the wall, head hanging.

'You should feel ashamed,' he thought to himself angrily. At the sight of the dichotic Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher the youngsters stood up straight and fell silent and by the time Draco reached them they all appeared presentable. For good measure he glanced along the line, unable to prevent himself from staring more firmly at his daughter than the rest, before he stood back and allowed them to file past him into the classroom. Quickly the youngsters took their seats and by the time Draco had made his way to the front of the class they were in their seats and staring obediently ahead.

"Good afternoon fourth years," Draco forced himself to say naturally, pushing away his strong desire to tell Leshia exactly how he felt about her most recent exploit in front of the whole class. "I know you're all excited about the weekend, but let us try and get through this lesson painlessly please. You'll all be delighted to know it is another practical session."

Such was their discipline that the teenagers all suppressed the urge to cheer at this revelation. Indeed, their only reaction to this news was to blink rapidly and Draco realised this with a genuine smile. Of all the years in the school the fourth years were his best-behaved year group, which seemed remarkable considering the characters this year housed. They had gone their entire Hogwarts career with just one Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and were very responsive to the way he expected them to behave, whereas the older years still rebelled and the younger years had not the self-discipline for this level of obedience yet.

"We will be concluding our work on the fundamental curses by experimenting on one another our working knowledge of their countercurses," the teacher explained. "Everyone rise to your feet."

Quickly the fourth years responded and the moment they lifted from their chairs the furniture darted from the middle of the room to stack up along the side. Heavy mats spread out along the floor beneath their feet creating a padded surface that would hopefully minimise any injuries from carelessly cast curses.

"Please, find a partner."

Though Leshia had turned to Rachel instinctively, and the red girl in turn had turned towards her, quite suddenly Kati appeared between them looking fiercely at the blonde girl.

"Be my partner Leshia." It wasn't a question and all Leshia could do was nod grimly in response.

"Would love to," she managed quietly, casting Rachel a grim expression that the redhead girl mirrored. They had both known this was coming.

"Everybody find a space," Draco was continuing to the class. "You will have one hour to curse your partner and then cast the countercurse. Should anyone require assistance, I will be on hand to help." The fourth years eyed each other with excited smiles while they waited for further instructions. "Well go on then."

Curses filled the room and pupils started falling to the ground. Laughter permeated the air of curses and countercurses and everywhere there was movement. Only two pupils stared at one another, their wands clasped tightly in their hands.

"Katie what…"

"_Corripio pondera_," the raven-haired girl suddenly cried out causing Leshia to slouch onto her side, fighting the strength of the balancing curse Katie had thrown at her. It was so powerful she could barely stand up.

"It hurts!" the blonde girl cried out sounding strangled.

"Why did you do it Leshia?"

"Do what?"

"You know bloody well what you did!" With a wince Leshia fell onto the mat, the world was spinning to such an extent it was as though she had downed a whole bottle of fire whiskey. Katie was angry and this anger had fuelled a curse far more powerful than the one Draco had used on his daughter as an example to the class.

"Katie stop," the blonde girl whispered.

"You only snogged Fed when you saw Rodeo was about to kiss me. You knew what you were doing and you purposefully tried to sabotage us getting back together!"

On the mat Leshia was starting to lose consciousness. Her thoughts were as muddled as her balance and she was sure that any moment now she was going to either regurgitate her lunch or pass out from the sheer weight of her own head.

"I didn't…"

"You knew the second he saw you he'd lose interest in me. You _knew_!" A tear rolled out from Katie's eye while she glared furiously at her friend on the mat. Leshia's eyes had now rolled back into her head; she had fainted.

"What are you doing? _Reddo pondera_!" Katie shrunk away from the furious Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and shook her head. She couldn't excuse her actions. Down on the mat Leshia still lay unconscious and across the room partners had stopped practising their curses to turn and stare at the unbelievable scene in the corner of the room.

"Sir I…"

"Get out of my sight," Draco wheeled on the raven-haired girl, his tone dangerous and gravelly. More tears fell from Katie's eyes and she looked to the girl on the mat.

"Is she okay?"

The teacher ignored her and instead dropped to his knees beside the unconscious girl. Quickly he held the wand out and uttered a silent incantation, which worked instantaneously. Quite unceremoniously Leshia sat up straight and leaned over her side as though to be sick, but she held her stomach and winced, managing to keep herself from humiliating herself any further.

"I think I'm going to be sick," she whispered sounding strangled.

"Miss Weasley?" Draco glanced up to see his daughter's best friend step forward a few paces. Her pretty face was arranged in a horrified expression. "Please take Miss Malfoy to the girls toilets and then to the hospital wing?" Rachel didn't need telling twice and she rushed forward helping Leshia to her feet. She helped Leshia hobble out leaving the stunned class staring at the perpetrator of the curse.

"I thought I told you to leave?" Draco growled at the girl.

"Sir I didn't mean…"

"Get out!" Draco's bellow reverberated off the walls leaving Katie shaking slightly, but she finally did as she was told. After collecting her bag from her desk along the wall she scurried across to the door where she glanced back in shame at her friends. When she saw the scowl on Rodeo's face she let out a sob, before fleeing into the corridor.

XXX

"I can't believe Kate would do that to you Leesh. I just…I can't believe it!" Rachel fumed. Leshia had been propped up in one of the hospital wing beds with two strange pads attached to her ears. Katie's curse had down severe damage to her inner ears meaning Rachel had had a difficult task getting her to the hospital wing, but Madam Pomfry assured the concerned girls that the strange contraptions she had fastened to Leshia's head would soon set her to rights.

"She was angry and we both know why," Leshia sighed gravely.

"That's still no excuse!"

"Rach I had it coming, you know I did. Katie's a passionate person, you can't really blame her for being upset when I buggered up her chances with Rodeo."

"Yeah, but you told me you were doing that for her own good," Rachel tried, though her heart wasn't in it. She knew her best friends well enough to see they had got themselves into the same sticky situation they had found themselves in in second year: they both liked Rodeo again.

"Rach come on, you and I both know I was doing it because I didn't want to see them together."

"Well then you're both horrible," Rachel grumbled, though a small smile pulled at the corner of her mouth.

"You know what, I think you're right there. You've got to go and find her Rach, you can bet she's totally distraught…"

"Don't make me go and get her, I can't tell you what I'll do if I see her the way I'm feeling right now," the red-haired girl pleaded with a worried frown, which elicited a chuckle from the injured girl.

"Oh as if, you're a much better person than either of us. _You'd_ never intentionally hurt a friend, I know that much."

"I'm not going to get out of this am I?" Rachel sighed and once more Leshia grinned.

"Not likely no."

"All right, just don't go anywhere okay?"

"Rach," Leshia laughed and she indicated her bed-ridden state. "Do I look like I'm going anywhere? If I set foot off this bed I'll land on my face again."

After Rachel had rushed out the room Leshia's expression fell and she stared miserably down at her hands. Everything was changing and she didn't know how to end this downwards spiral of misery. Her actions were hurting everybody she loved and yet she was unable to prevent herself from making these awful choices. Yes the sight of Katie and Rodeo on the settee, leaning in close to one another had set alarm bells of in Leshia's head and yes she had lunged at her nearest admirer in an attempt to break them up, but how could she have been so cruel?

"You're a disgrace Malfoy," she whispered to herself. "A total and utter disgrace." Uneasily she leant back on her pillows and shut her eyes, willing the ringing to leave her ears and let her have a moment's rest. Before too long though, the doors to the hospital wing swung open once more and in marched Rachel, dragging her tearful cousin behind her. Leshia sat up straight again to the best of her abilities and forced a smile onto her face that brought instant comfort to Katie's ravaged feelings.

"Leesh," Katie wept. "I'm just so sorry!" After a moment's hesitation Leshia opened her arms to the raven-haired girl, who rushed forward to embrace the invalid.

"It was my fault, I started it. I'm sorry too Katie, for everything!" The two girls hugged for a long time while Katie let out all her grief and the friends made up again. Before too long Rachel had thrown herself onto the pile and a group hug of sorts emerged with all three girls giggling stupidly.

"How long are they going to keep you here?" Katie sniffed eventually and she pulled back.

"Till I can stand again I suppose," Leshia shrugged. "I don't reckon it'll be too long. I feel pretty good already actually. What's um, what's going to happen to you?" Katie winced and shook her head.

"I don't know, you're dad was so mad Leesh." The blonde girl nodded. Cruelly injuring Draco's daughter under his very nose? That ought to be enough to make the man 'mad' to say the least.

"I'll have a word with him, tell him what happened." Katie stared in shock at her friend.

"But you're not talking to your dad right now…"

"Yeah well I'm not going to let him bollock you am I? Not when this was all my fault."

"Oh Leesh!" Again Katie fell on the blonde girl, who burst out laughing.

An hour passed before Leshia was deemed fit enough to leave the hospital wing by the formidable matron. The bell had just gone signifying the end of lessons and Leshia had to struggle against the traffic to reach her father's classroom in time before he flooed home for the day. The Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom door still lay open and after peering inside Leshia could see her father moving the desks back into place without the aid of magic. His gaze seemed to be very far away, as though he were staring back through time.

Uneasily Leshia cleared her throat at the door urging her father to look up sharply. His frown deepened when he saw who was standing at the door.

"How are you feeling?" he asked eventually after his daughter had stepped inside and shut the door behind herself.

"There's this damn ringing in my ears that won't go away," the girl explained. "Madam Pomfry told me that'd last a few days." Draco nodded vacantly, he had expected as much.

"I suppose you've come for your things?" Leshia frowned and glanced towards her bag, which lay undisturbed atop her desk. She hadn't even remembered it.

"Um no, not really," she replied, but ambled across the room to sling her satchel about her shoulders anyway. Draco raised one eyebrow curiously.

"Oh?"

"I came to talk to you actually."

"Talk? To me?" His suspicion wrangled a painful smile onto Leshia's face and she nodded. What had become of the once strong relationship she had with her father that she couldn't even come and talk to him without arousing suspicion?

"It's about Katie." Draco stayed quiet, his expression murderous. "Dad that's just it, I don't want you to go off on one with her. She was right to do what she did, I had it coming."

"Go off on one? Leshia the girl put you in the hospital wing!" Draco complained angrily.

"Yeah well like I said I had it coming!"

"What on earth did you do to deserve that?" Leshia looked down at her hands uncomfortably.

"I stuffed up her chances with this boy she likes…on purpose."

"And that's reason enough to curse one of her best friends is it? A boy?"

"It's not about the boy dad, it's about the fact that I hurt her and I did it on purpose. I started it!"

"And when did this happen?"

"When do you think?" the girl countered grimly. "I know you know what happened yesterday dad. You always know." Draco stared into his little girl's eyes remorsefully and eventually shook his head.

"What are you playing at Leshia? Hmm? Why are you doing this to yourself?" he finally asked gently. "I understand that you're angry with your mother and I, but why take it out on yourself? You're so much better than all this."

"I don't know why," Leshia replied in a whisper and she quickly lowered her eyes from her father's intense gaze. "I can't stop myself…" Silence enveloped the unhappy pair, which was finally broken by Draco clearing his throat and getting to his feet.

"I won't take matters further with Katie," he finally spoke softly. "She's already suffered enough I imagine."

"She totally has!" Leshia agreed fervently. Draco smiled sadly and nodded before he lifted another desk to put it back in its rightful place. "Why aren't you using magic?"

"I needed to clear my head." Leshia eyed the remaining desks and then glanced at the clock. She had a drums lesson to get to in five minutes. Quickly she crossed the room towards one of the desks and started pushing it back into its position. Though Draco didn't look at her his smile grew. Once Leshia had pushed the desk back into position she straightened up and approached her father.

"I've got a drums lesson to get to, but um, thanks for being so understanding," she told her father in a stilted voice. She had reached his side now and Draco straightened up, towering over the girl as he always did.

"I'll always be there for you, you know that." Leshia nodded quickly before she lunged at her father's side, half hugged him and then darted away. It all happened to quickly that Draco was barely given time to respond, but as Leshia rushed towards the door an enormous smile had grown on his handsome face. At the door the girl turned round and managed a small wave before she was gone.

Luke was waiting patiently when Leshia burst through the door to their usual music room. The girl's progress had been slow, but steady and Luke was quite proud of his efforts to teach the rhythmless girl some tricks. How she would cope on stage was another matter, but here in this music room she was holding her own.

"You're in a hurry, something happened?" the young man asked amusedly.

"I thought I was late again," the girl panted while she dropped her satchel on a desk.

"Are you up for it today? I heard about what happened…"

"I'm fine! Really," Leshia countered firmly, eliciting a lopsided grin from her mentor.

"The scrapes you girls get yourselves into. You'd never catch guys acting like that." Leshia sniggered and shook her head, thinking quite the opposite, but not wanting to insult her teacher.

"Sure sure. Now move over, I thought I was the one learning how to play the drums?" Luke laughed and cleared out for the young girl to take her seat on the stool. She quickly ran through what she'd learnt the last time, after which Luke burst into applause.

"Why did you kiss Fed yesterday Leesh?" the young man asked out of the blue. Leshia wrinkled her brow and shrugged embarrassedly.

"Why not?"

"You want to watch him. I mean Fed's a funny guy and a laugh to hang around with, but guys his age aren't trustworthy. Hell, guys _your_ age aren't trustworthy," the red-haired young man warned quite seriously. Leshia sniggered.

"You're a guy your age," she accused playfully.

"Yeah but you're like a cousin to me Leesh, same as Katie and Rachel. I could never think about you like that. No offence, I mean yeah you're hot and everything, but there's just no way." The blonde girl laughed so loudly she actually made the ringing in her ears worse and had to stop.

"Okay," she finally managed when she came to. "I won't go after guys your age again, okay?"

XXX

The following morning brought an excited buzz to the castle; it was a match day! The weather had thankfully stayed clear and though it looked very cold up there in the sunshine Leshia was confident about the clash with Slytherin. With all the kafuffle the day before in trying to set Katie's reputation to rights by glaring murderously at anyone who dared raise an eyebrow at her raven-haired friend Leshia hadn't really been given the chance to worry about the match.

Saturday morning brought with it a flutter of nerves, but nothing the blonde girl couldn't handle. Before any of her friends had risen she changed into her quidditch robes and collected her broom. She ambled down the quiet corridors until she reached the entrance hall and was all set on heading inside when suddenly a cruel snigger caught her attention. The girl spun round to find her least favourite person in the castle sauntering up from the dungeons with a posse of Slytherin cronies fanned about him.

"Allseyer," Leshia growled in greeting.

"Morning blood traitor, good day for a beating don't you think?"

"I'm glad you think so, seeing as it's Slytherin who's going to get beaten," the girl countered cockily. Allseyer's twisted smile faltered, but then grew anew.

"I wouldn't be so sure of myself if I were you. The Slytherin you'll be facing up there aren't the same Slytherin you've played in previous years…"

"Don't tell me you've replaced them with people who can _actually_ play?" Leshia countered with a sneer.

"I'm going to love watching them take you down a notch you filthy…" Heavy footsteps sounded from down below and quickly the Slytherins filed up into the entrance hall to make way for whoever had crept up behind them. Leshia suppressed a grimace when she caught sight of Severus Snape's unpleasant face. The Potions master ascended the stairs and moved to stand between the rival parties. After glancing between the two his eyes finally fell on the lone Gryffindor.

"I hope you're not causing trouble Miss Malfoy," he finally spoke in a silky voice that made Leshia shudder with revulsion. "It would be a shame if Gryffindor's star player had to miss the match."

"I was just on my way to breakfast sir," Leshia forced herself to explain neutrally, not allowing her intense loathing for the people gathered in front of her to enter her voice.

"Off you go then."

The girl didn't need telling twice and quickly hurried into the great hall to find her place midway along Gryffindor table. She sat with her back to the rest of the hall and quickly served herself to a hearty breakfast; if Allseyer was right then she would need all the strength she could find. While she chewed on her toast she contemplated the boy's words. No doubt he had been insinuating that the Slytherins had some nasty tricks up their sleeves.

"You'll have to watch yourself," the girl uttered to herself. Training had been intense in recent weeks and so Leshia felt herself more than confident to handle any dirty-handed tactics the Slytherins could dish out, but whether she'd be in one piece by the end of it was another story.

"Leesh!" Quite suddenly the blonde girl found herself bombarded by hugs from her friends, who had come careening up the great hall to wish their friend luck. Their confidence in the girl gave her strength, as did that of the whole house and so by the time the girl was filing onto the pitch with the rest of the team she felt ready to take on anyone who dared challenge her.

"Players, take your places!" Madam Hooch called out over the pitch. Leshia straddled her broom and kicked off, revelling in the weightlessness of flight for a moment, before she took off into the heavens to circle the field of play far down below. Tara Heeley, the Slytherin seeker and a player Leshia barely rated, followed her up. Higher and higher Leshia flew to avoid having to share air space with that wretched pock-marked Slytherin, but her rival seeker didn't seem to want to take the hint.

"Fine," Leshia grumbled to herself while far down below the game roared into action. "If this is how you want to play it." Quite suddenly she lurched into a drop. Lower and lower she fell while in her wake the other more sensible girl followed in dive. Leshia was falling towards the field of play, hoping to lose the other girl by dropping between the fraught match and then reappearing on the other side. This was a manoeuvre she was good at and had practiced many a time, but today something quite different happened. She fell into the players, seamlessly moving through them as usual, but quite suddenly she came across two Slytherin Chasers, who had formed a wall that stopped Leshia in her tracks.

The girl thudded into the heavy-set Slytherins and nearly toppled from her broom. The crushing blow had left her winded, but she didn't have time to feel sorry for herself as quite suddenly out of nowhere a bludgers caught her on the back and then another shortly afterwards in the side.

"Ooh!" the sixth-year Hufflepuff commentator Jake Thomas winced into the microphone while across the stands people averted their eyes. "The Slytherins masterfully singled out Gryffindors seeker Alecia Malfoy there. She'd better watch herself; it looks like the Mills twins are lining themselves up for another strike! Where are Gryffindors beaters? Gryffindor still leading with thirty points to nothing."

Down in the field of play Leshia was feeling dazed, but managed to scramble back upright and dart away from another onslaught by the well-aimed Beaters. The Slytherins though where ready for her escape and just as she tried to rise out of the heavy traffic of the mid-section the third chaser blocked her path. Every move Leshia made was countered by a Slytherin player and everywhere she moved a bludger seemed to follow.

"And again Leshia comes under fire from those persistent bludgers," Jake Thomas roared to the outraged crowds after Leshia caught a bludger to the head. "The Slytherins seem to care more about bullying the opposing seeker than the score. Gryffindor leads ninety points to zero!"

Furious that she had been caged like a trapped animal Leshia waited for two lumbering Chasers to dive at her before she dropped out of the level of play resulting in the clumsy Slytherins colliding in a messy heap above. The crowds burst into cheers, but Leshia had not the time to hear them; she was free! Now where was Tara Heeley?

"Woah!" the girl suddenly exclaimed and gripped onto her broom for balance. Her rival had just raced past her at a cracking pace and was circling up ahead, evidently coming around for another go. The blonde girl's brow was set in a furious scowl.

"Ruddy cheaters," she hissed into the winds. Without hesitation she dropped once more, barely missing a collision with the other seeker, and flew inches from the grass. Up above a furious and messy game was taking place and though it took a lot of effort to tear her eyes from the field to glance upwards Leshia had to keep track of the Slytherin beaters, who were targeting her with well-aimed strikes. Only when she caught a bludger to the back of her head and saw stars did Leshia realise that scurrying about beneath the level of play was about as advisable as muddling through their midst.

The Gryffindor seeker gripped tightly at her broom and pulled it tightly, sending herself into a cracking spiral. Upwards she shot towards a wall of Slytherins who had somehow gathered within a split second to block her. Fearlessly the girl approached until she was nearly upon them when suddenly she gave her broom an almighty tug and managed to avoid calamity. Onwards she shot towards the free air above the level of play where she took a moment to race down to the other end of the pitch where Owen's goalposts stood well defended.

"Malfoy! You okay?" the tall keeper called to the girl as soon as she was in hearing range.

"What are they playing at?"

"They're trying to bash you off your broom! Just stay away from the level of play and you'll be fine!"

"That's easy for you to say!" Leshia complained, before she suddenly lunged from her broom and spun around mid air in an attempt to avoid a furious bludger aimed at her head. "They're not trying to kill you!"

With this the girl rose away from the goalposts and took off into the sky. She needed to gather her wits about herself in order to concentrate on finding and catching the snitch. For a moment she was able to do so in peace, but then, predictably, Tara Heeley caught up with her flying about her like an annoying wasp. Leshia held her cool and didn't let the other girl's tactics bother her. Every time the rival seeker swooped past her the ends of her broom scratched against Leshia's face leaving her feeling battered, but still she didn't move.

Only when the Slytherin beaters located her above the furore down below did Leshia finally move. Easily she dove down past the beaters, barely missing the bludgers on her way down, but evidently this eventuality had been carefully planned for and Tara Heeley dropped just low enough to position herself below Leshia's descent. Upon coming across the obstacle in her path Leshia had to stop and soon found herself a Bludger target once more. This time when the cruel balls struck into her she lost her grip and fell from her broom. Scrambling she grabbed at the smooth wood.

"A well aimed double strike by Slytherin's beaters have left Leshia Malfoy hanging onto her broom for dear life!" Jake Thomas roared to a terrified audience.

Leshia's hands ached, but she pulled herself up. She'd nearly clambered back onto her broom when suddenly a bludger struck her arm.

"Agh!" she cried out despite herself and she let her wounded arm drop at her side. With one hand she held onto her broom and glanced down at the long drop below. For the first time a part of her felt afraid. How could she possibly survive such a fall?

"Hang on Leshia!" Like music to the girl's ears Luke and Tom Weasley's calls preceded their arrival on the scene.

"Sorry Shorty, we've been detained," Tom growled while he and his cousin swooped round the Seeker allowing her the time she needed to get back on her broom.

"They're playing dirty those Slytherin rats," Luke told the girl once she was sitting comfortably. She rolled her eyes.

"Tell me something I don't know. Can you just watch my back? If I have to deal with them the whole time I'll never catch the snitch."

With two guardians Leshia's task became a little easier, but the Mills twins and Tara Heeley didn't let up so easily and continuously hounded the Gryffindor trio. There was so much traffic in her usually empty air space that Leshia couldn't concentrate and dropped away from the scramble high in the air.

A flash of gold!

Like a dart Leshia dropped skimming above the field of play with Tara Heeley chasing her tail twigs. Had the snitch been bewitched? Leshia wondered to herself, as she saw painstakingly that the golden ball was hiding between the scrap of play between the chasers. There was nothing else for it and so with a wincing expression the seeker bent low over her broom and threw herself into the mix. Chasers tried to topple her left right and centre and several times she collided with Slytherins. Bludgers soon joined the battle and after only five minutes in the fray Leshia was sure she was bleeding from top to bottom.

"Leshia Malfoy is either totally stark raving mad," Jake Thomas was calling to the crowds. "Or she's the bravest seeker I've ever seen!"

The chances of Leshia catching the snitch seemed pitiful until suddenly an opportunity fell into her lap, though not without its risks. Up ahead the snitch was hovering, but before Leshia could dart towards it two chasers and a beater suddenly lifted into her path.

'The Snitch is right there,' Leshia thought to herself furiously. With a grimace she glanced down at her swollen hands and then up again. There was nothing for it; she was going to have to choose the insane option over the safer one once again.

Furiously the girl set off into a terrifyingly fast dive. She dodged a bludger, darted round a Gryffindor Chaser and before she knew it reached the wall of Slytherins. Desperately she tried to dodge over them, her hand outstretched to the snitch, but they countered her dodge and the girl collided.

It was as though time had slowed down the terrified audience agreed after the game was long finished. In horror they had all watched while Leshia Malfoy flew through the air, arms and legs flailing, her eyes never leaving the golden ball. Incredibly the girl's fingers gripped round the ball while she flew broomless across the pitch, but when all seemed lost and Leshia started falling towards the grass far down below miraculously and as though it had all been staged, the girl's abandoned broom rose beneath her. It had skidded beneath the blocked wall directly below its owner and just when Leshia was sure she was going to be killed on the ground down below her broom rose up to meet her. The second she landed her arms wound round the wood tightly and she clung on for dear life. All about her the stadium erupted into cheers the likes she had never heard before, but all Leshia could care about was the fact that she had just escaped death in the most spectacular fashion.

Madam Hooch's whistle was blowing and all around Gryffindors and Slytherins were facing off as though in battle, but Leshia couldn't move. She clung to her broom, too frightened to move, breathing rapidly and her heart beating so fast she was sure she could hear it over the deafening roar from the stands.

A few minutes past until finally Leshia lifted her cheek from the cold wood and looked down at its glittering surface.

"Thank you," she whispered through a constricted throat, before finally she made her way slowly back down to the ground. She had never been so happy to touch down before.

"Leshia you madwoman!" Quite suddenly the girl found herself mobbed by her captain, who despite nearly fainting at the sight of Leshia practically leaping from her broom to catch the snitch, was grinning so broadly the blonde girl could see all her teeth. "What the hell are you playing at?"

"Ow," Leshia managed in protest. Her injuries were hurting quite a lot now.

"Sorry, sorry," Mila quickly offered and she let the girl go. As though Madam Pomfry had magicked herself to the girl's aide all of a sudden she appeared at the two young women's sides.

"Oh dear," the matron complained while she inspected a particularly nasty bruise on Leshia's forehead. "Off to the Hospital Wing with you young lady. Come along. I've lost count of the amount if times I've had to repair your broken scull Miss Malfoy!"

XXX

Following Leshia's death defying leap of faith on the quidditch pitch her reputation, which had been cast into doubt by her recent exploits, was totally restored. The girl shied away from well-wishers though, as it had never been Leshia's way to revel in the compliments she received from the student body. Thankfully after a few days the castle quietened down into their usual manner of admiring the Gryffindor Seeker from afar and she was able to go about her business as she pleased.

Thursday brought Rachel's birthday along with it and the redhead girl awoke to find a mountain of gifts and an enthusiastic common room full of balloons and leaping chocolate frogs. The girl thoroughly enjoyed the royal treatment she received all day and was privately ecstatic when the friends returned after dinner to find the common room awash with decorations, tasty treats and music. Gryffindor had never seen the likes of so many parties, but Leshia had been quick to arrange this final soirée in honour of her best friend. Why should she and Katie receive parties, but not Rachel?

Everyone was in a festive mood after the Weekend's triumph over the serpent house and as such the party got going very quickly. Leshia stayed at Rachel's side throughout the evening, but soon found herself chatting to the gorgeous young men from Salem Matt and Joshua at the refreshments stand. They were in awe of her performance on the quidditch pitch and would not listen to the girl's insistence that she had not planned or practiced her final move that caught the snitch. She enjoyed talking to these young men, as they reminded her of her good friend Ryan Lofting, but it would seem her friends were less keen on her attachment to them. Leshia was in the middle of listening to the tall young men retelling an amusing story when suddenly she fell into shadow. Leshia wrinkled her brow and glanced over her shoulder to find Owen Gabriel stood in her wake, staring firmly at the two Salemers.

"You okay Owen?"

"Can I have a word?" the tall young man asked darkly, before he glanced at Leshia sincerely. "In private?"

"Hey, she's all yours," Joshua chuckled and he nudged his friend to grab their drinks and go. They could recognise a jealous suitor when they saw one, and as their intentions with the young seeker were entirely amiable and as far from romantic was possible, they stand in the way of a lover's tiff. Leshia waited for the young men to leave before she spun around and faced Owen with a wrinkled brow.

"You're being weird," she accused him with a lopsided grin.

"No, I'm stopping you before you get yourself into any further trouble," the young man countered and he grabbed Leshia's elbow and led her away from prying eyes to an out of the way settee. Then pair dropped down on it.

"It's not like anything's going to happen with Matt and Joshua Owen, they're really old!"

"Yeah well that Fed guy was too old for you too and look what happened there." Leshia sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

"Why do you have to bring that up, that was ages ago…"

"One week Shorty, it was one week ago."

"Well what's your point?"

"I just don't want to see you acting like a…" Owen fell silent and chewed on the insides of his mouth. For a moment Leshia stared at him firmly and then poked him unceremoniously with her elbow.

"Acting like a what?"

"Um…"

"Owen!"

"Well like a tart if you must know," the boy grumbled. Leshia's mouth fell open in outrage and she pulled away from her friend.

"I do not act like a tart," she complained fervently, though her cries of innocence were met by hearty laughter from Owen.

"Sometimes you do and I know you hate it, so I'm stepping in and stopping you before you do something stupid."

"Really? Or are you doing this so if I do something stupid I'll do it with you?" Leshia hadn't meant for those words to come out and her eyes went wide. Owen too looked surprised and though there was truth in her sentiment he couldn't believe the girl would say something like that. Hurt, he looked away. "Owen I'm sorry…"

"You know how I feel Malfoy," he spoke hoarsely. "And sometimes I think you feel the same way about me, but then…"

"Owen I don't know what I want," the girl sighed and she leant down in the settee, her cheek resting on the tall boy's arm. "That's the problem. I keep hurting everyone because I'm going through some sort of pre-life crisis and…" Owen burst out laughing.

"What the hell is a pre-life crisis?"

"You know, what's happening to me," she replied matter-of-factly. "I know I've liked you for a long time and I would have wanted to, you know…but then Rodeo."

"And now? What do you want now?" Owen had slid down in the settee, his face inches from the girl he loved. His eyes met hers and for a moment she leaned in towards him, their lips brushed against one another before she pulled away. What was she doing?

"I don't know…"

Not taking no for an answer Owen reached out a strong hand and wrapped it around the back of Leshia's head. He pulled her towards him and kissed her firmly. It was a hungry sort of kiss, the sort of kiss he had obviously been waiting for for a long time and for a moment the girl returned it, but then she pulled from him again.

"Owen don't," she whispered. Owen exhaled angrily and rested his forehead against Leshia's.

"This is killing me," he uttered darkly. "You're killing me."

"I'm sorry," she whispered back. "I don't know what I want."

"Well then stop playing with my feelings," the hurt young man countered angrily and quite suddenly he pulled away and climbed to his feet. "Just sort it out Malfoy!" With this he stalked away to the stairs and was gone leaving Leshia reeling. What had she done? Of all the friendships she relied on for total and unconditional support Rachel and Owen came out on top. She couldn't afford to lose him!

XXX

"Miss Malfoy, remain behind." Leshia cast her father an affronted expression while those around her climbed to their feet and filed out of the classroom. Katie and Rachel glanced over their shoulders on their way out and grimaced at their best friend. No doubt the salacious gossip that had been circulating about Leshia's latest antics with none other than her good friend Owen Gabriel had reached the ears of the girl's father and he had something to say on the matter.

As soon as the classroom door closed Draco strode towards his desk, picked up a pile of marking and flicked his wrist in his daughter's direction.

"On your feet," he merely stated. Leshia quickly obliged, lifting her satchel as she went. She ambled over to her father, wary of his intentions, but soon found him heading towards the recently closed classroom door.

"Where are you going?" the girl asked worriedly.

"Come with me." This was the only answer she was going to get and so with a heavy heart Leshia followed her father through the end-of-day traffic towards an unknown destination. Before too long the girl had worked out where her father was taking her and she started to feel afraid. He was taking her towards the portrait of the Newlyweds, which could only mean…

"Dad I've got a Hearing Aid practice I can't go home…"

"You will do as your told for once," he countered darkly and continued to lead to the way. Once he had scratched the foot of the groom and gained entry to the chambers he had once called home he took up a hand of floo powder and reached out for Leshia's reluctant hand.

"Take it," he ordered when she seemed to refuse.

"But dad…"

"Don't you dare disobey me Alecia. Take it and transport home this instant." Leshia could see this was a battle she would never win and so after a heavy sigh she took the powder from her father and stepped over the grate. How easy it would be to floo somewhere else and run away, she thought to herself, but then she realised how wrathful her father would be when he inevitably caught up with her and she shuddered at the thought.

"Number forty-three Dockstreet," she called out clearly and in a swirl of green flame she was gone. Waiting for her in the kitchen of the home Leshia had left in such a state the last time she had come home for a visit was Hermione. The girl's mother was tight-faced and worried, which only added to the churning feeling in the pit of Leshia's stomach. Now she was in for it.

"Sit down Alecia," Hermione instructed coolly.

"What's this about?" the girl countered defiantly; she wasn't going down without a fight! Behind her in a swirl of green flames her father appeared. He hadn't been in the room three seconds before he grabbed hold of his daughter's shoulder and forced her into the nearest chair at the table. Hermione winced a little, but lowered herself into a chair near to her daughter. "You can't do this! Don't I have rights? You can't just abduct me from school you know."

"Abduct you?" Draco demanded angrily, before he took a chair on the other side of the table caging Leshia in. "We're your bloody parents, don't be ridiculous."

"Draco," Hermione warned gently. How were they to have a frank discussion with the girl if he seemed ready to throw a tantrum himself? There was no doubting his personal unease with Owen Gabriel had contributed to his foul mood when hearing Leshia had yet again found herself in an intimate situation with a young man.

"What's going on?" their daughter demanded.

"I think we should be asking you the same question," Hermione countered firmly. "Your father has told me all about the rumours circulating at Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall came to see me this morning Leshia, your own head of house! She's concerned about your behaviour. I've never been so ashamed!"

"What's there to be ashamed of?" Leshia countered, though she seemed less sure of herself. McGonagall had come to see her mother?

"Your attempt to paint yourself as Hogwarts' very own village bicycle is what!"

"Draco," Hermione warned again. Leshia, not understanding the insinuation wrinkled her brow in confusion. "Your behaviour has been nothing short of disgraceful," Hermione was continuing. "Bringing alcohol into the castle, drinking, kissing strange young men far too old for you, getting in fights with your closest friends… I'm just at a loss for words." Leshia narrowed her eyes at her mother.

"Nobody can prove it was me who brought in the drink."

"As if anybody needs proof," Hermione countered slightly angrily. "You alone of all the youngsters in that school has enough ingenuity and sheer gall to pull of something on that scale. What were you thinking? I'm just so ashamed…"

"Oh please," Leshia countered far too cockily for her own good. "You two can hardly talk…"

"Enough!" Leshia jumped. Her father had slammed his fist down on her table so forcefully the ancient piece of furniture groaned in protest. "Don't you _dare_ talk to your mother that way."

Leshia tried to meet her father's furious stare for as long as she could before her eyes fell to the slight imprint his fist had left on the soft wood of the table. Leshia Malfoy may have been both very foolish and very brave, but even she couldn't hold the murderous gaze of and enraged Draco Malfoy for more than a second. This was the gaze that had brought Dark Wizards to their knees pleading for mercy, what chance did a fifteen-year-old girl stand?

Hermione let out a stifled sob and a tear rolled from her cheek. In surprise the blonde girl glanced up to see the state of her mother and instantly her resolve started weakening. How could she do this to her parents? Slowly the girl opened her mouth to speak,

"I'm…"

The three occupants of the table stared at one another as though in surprise, as up above a tremulous wail cried out. The sound of the interloper made Leshia's blood curdle and she quickly shut her mouth, dragging her arms round herself protectively.

"Sweetheart…" Hermione began, but she could see the moment was gone. Whatever Leshia had felt ready to say had fast retreated at the sound of her sister. Slowly the mother rose to her feet and hovered near to her oldest daughter. "Just…just behave yourself, please? Remember that a lot of younger pupils look up to you. Show them a good example eh?" Leshia continued to stare across the table, her brow lowered over her eyes in a childish expression. Hermione sighed shakily and reached out to smooth Leshia's curls down, but at her mother's touch the girl jerked her head away. Draco opened his mouth to object, but he met his wife's eye. Hermione shook her head before she turned to leave the room, tears streaming down her face.

When Evie's cries were settled by the arrival of her mother Leshia lifted her impertinent eyes to her father, who was staring at her coldly.

"If you think you can keep this sort of behaviour up much longer then you're very much mistaken my girl," he finally spoke crossly. Leshia didn't react to his threat and merely stared at her father. "Go on," he uttered accusingly, nodding towards the grate. His daughter didn't need telling twice and jumped to her feet. She didn't glance back while she picked up a handful of floo powder and climbed into the hearth. Only when she dropped it and called out, "Hogwarts," did she catch her father's eye and for a moment she shuddered…he seemed really to hate her in that moment.

XXX

The weekend was a miserable experience for Leshia. As if she didn't have enough on her mind with her parents' displeasure with her and Owen's ignoring her, Sunday brought a new article chronicling her grandfather's movements. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that the terrible Death Eater was in London and his proximity to her mother made her feel all manner of confused emotions.

It became a matter of utmost importance that she trace his progress and see if she could work out his intentions. She took to carrying about her scrapbook of clippings and notes wherever she went, which soon, inevitably, landed her in more trouble than she could have imagined.

Monday had already been an unpleasant day. The first lesson of the day, Defence Against the Dark Arts, had been an awkward encounter for Leshia and it had been followed by a Potions lesson that had seen the girl lose her house ten housepoints. By the time Ancient Runes rolled by Leshia had had enough and she wanted nothing more than to skive the lesson and go back to bed.

Tripper seemed to be in a foul mood and from the moment Leshia stepped foot inside the classroom she knew her bad day was only going to get worse. She shuddered despite herself when she took her seat beneath his filthy gaze and suppressed a stream of obscenities while she reached into her satchel to take out her homework.

"Crap," she hissed, as her hand reached not into the usually dry state of her bag, but rather a suspiciously wet mixture of parchments and books.

"Miss Malfoy!" Tripper hissed.

"I'm sorry sir, it's just I think my inkpot's spilled all over my stuff," the girl quickly offered. The scarred teacher marched up to her side and narrowed his eyes at the girl while she pulled out the contents of her satchel. As she had predicted, everything was covered in blue ink. With a grimace she started rifling through the books and parchments to find her homework, but before she could quite get to it the teacher froze.

"What is that?" his high-pitched wheeze escaped earning himself the curious gaze of everyone in the class. Leshia wrinkled her brow and then quite suddenly her heart skipped a beat. The breath caught in her throat when she realised she had just taken out her scrapbook in front of the one man who she least wanted to find it. And had she…oh God…she had just leafed through it, revealing its contents in an attempt to find her homework.

"Nothing," the girl stammered, her strength failing her. What had she done? Abruptly Tripper reached out and lifted the ink-stained book from the table. At the back of the room a strangled cry indicated that Katie now very much understood what was happening at the front of the classroom. The more the teacher leafed through the book the greater his cruel and twisted smile became, until finally he reached the last page, where Leshia had only just this morning scribbled the line 'Where is he?' in her frustration, and looked up with an enormous wicked smile.

"Trying to find him are you?" the twisted man demanded sounding terrifyingly happy. Leshia started breathing rapidly and she tried shaking her head, but it wasn't behaving.

"S-s-s-s-si-si…" the girl broke off and panted when she couldn't get the word out.

"Class dismissed," Tripper called to the confused students. They didn't need telling twice and quickly scarpered leaving Leshia and her friends still sat at their desks. "That includes the three of you. Though you Miss Malfoy, will be hearing from me later."

"Leshia let's go," Katie softly told her friend and she walked up behind the blonde girl, who was still staring at Tripper like a rabbit caught in a headlight. Katie and Rachel had to practically lift their friend from her seat and guided her out of the lesson.

"What am I going to do?" the girl finally managed shakily once the three friends had found a secluded out of the way classroom to bolt themselves up in. Leshia hadn't been ready to return to the common room.

"Tell your dad Leesh…"

"I can't! He hates me."

"He does not hate you!" Rachel complained.

"Tell Dumbledore then," Katie tried next. Leshia though didn't want to do anything, or rather, felt she was unable to do anything and for the rest of the day the girl couldn't be moved from the classroom she had fled to. Finally when dinnertime rolled by her friends managed to coax her down to the great hall where Leshia sat stiff as a board, barely touching her food. Up at the high table frantic discussions were taking place and Leshia was very worried to see her father had stayed for dinner and was looking as white as a sheet.

Dinner was nearly coming to a close when suddenly a flapping of wings and a commotion up above preceded the arrival of four official looking black owls. They swooped along the great hall drawing everyone's gaze, until finally they singled out Leshia and landed on the table in front of her. She gulped and looked at the heavy black letter they carried between them. Fighting the tears that were prickling her eyes the fifteen-year-old girl reached out and lifted up the letter. The stamp on the back had been sealed with an imperial looking C, but she didn't have time to marvel at it and instead tore the letter open.

Leshia had never received a howler before, but she had seen others receiving them. Her fellow housemates were able to marvel at the similarities between howlers and this mysterious black letter as it suddenly came to life and fluttered up to Leshia's eye level.

"I hereby notify Alecia Trystin Malfoy of inclusion on the Ministry's Watch List for Dark and Suspicious Activity under article five one three seven of the Crayik Code for intervention in possible dark and illegal activity. You will be expected to report to a Ministry official every day. Do not try to leave the country. Any attempt to do so will be considered an admission of guilt and will lead to immediate incarceration in Azkaban." The deep booming voice stunned everyone in the room, before quite suddenly the letter started glowing. Leshia stared in horror at the apparition before it swooped down and collided with her hand. She winced in pain and looked down at her burned hand to see a peculiar symbol had been branded on her young skin. It was a sinister looking eye.

For a moment she simply stared at the mark, before she lifted her eyes to the High Table. A flurry of activity blocked her view for a moment, before quite suddenly she caught the eyes of Silas Tripper. He was smiling.

XXXX

Sorry it's been so long. I've had my first practice in school for 6 weeks and didn't have time to think, let alone think about writing! Holidays now! Happy Christmas everyone!


	7. Part Seven

**Generations: Rebel Inside**

**Part Seven**

Draco Malfoy was on his feet the moment the Ministry Owls swooped into the Great Hall bearing their message to his young and innocent child. He stared in horror, his heart thumping wildly in his chest while it read its message aloud. The moment it had started glowing he winced, remembering very well the day his letter came and branded him similarly…he remembered the pain and the humiliation… _He_ had deserved it though; his little girl had not. While Leshia stared down at her hurt right hand in shock the High Table erupted into disapproving and furious noise. Draco remained silent and paced round the back of the upset teachers to find Silas Tripper staring at his young daughter with a sickly smile.

"You," Draco managed through a constricted throat. He had never felt so angry before in all his days. Tripper turned slowly and upon seeing the agony on Draco's face smiled even broader still.

"Something the matter Malfoy?" the cruel man asked breezily.

"She's fifteen Tripper. _Fif_teen!" Uncontrollably Draco's hand jerked with pent up emotion, giving off the impression that the tall and dangerous man was quite deranged. "You're condemning an innocent child to the suspicion murderers and criminals deserve."

"The Ministry is not in the business of incriminating _innocent_ young girls Malfoy. If your daughter has been branded with the Eye then you had better believe she deserved it." Draco twitched once more and he took a step towards the filthy pockmarked man he hated so.

"I'm going rip you apart you cruel…" For a moment it looked as though Draco was going to go through with his threat, but quite suddenly a tall and powerful presence came over the two hot-headed men. Both turned in time to see Albus Dumbledore standing inches from them shaking his head roughly.

"Not here gentlemen," the headmaster ordered and he indicated the student body, who were all staring at the top table in shock. "Draco I must speak with Leshia alone. Tripper has shown me the book he spoke of before and I need to discuss it with her."

"But Albus she's my…"

"I understand dear friend," Dumbledore countered softly. "And you will see her before too long, but really I must discuss this matter with her. With any luck the Ministry will remove the Eye before the night is through. To brand a child…" This last part he added in an undertone to himself and Draco was relieved to see the headmaster was as angry about this matter as he himself was. "Draco come to my study in one hour. Please, go home and comfort your wife, she will no doubt have been notified of this by the Ministry."

Pitifully Draco nodded eliciting a snigger from the scarred man at his side. Before Draco could strike the despicable man however, Dumbledore wheeled on the Runes teacher with a look of cold fury.

"You had better return to your quarters Mr Tripper," the headmaster spoke softly. "And hope that our paths do not cross while I am in this frame of mind."

Dumbledore's very aura turned hostile and after a quick smirk at the shocked and frightened girl at Gryffindor table Tripper turned on heal and headed out the staff door at the back of the Great Hall. Draco watched him go, wanting very much to chase after him and beat the sickening man into the ground. He resisted the powerful urge though and looked to his poor daughter, who seemed so very small and alone in and amongst the shocked student body. All he could offer her was a pained looking smile, before he walked the length of the hall and out the grand doors into the entrance hall. Leshia watched him go and felt her heart quickening.

'He's leaving me,' she though weakly. 'He's leaving…'

"I think it best," Dumbledore had started speaking to the shocked looking pupils. "That you all return to your common rooms." The tall and venerable old man's eyes fell on Leshia and she knew he meant for her to follow him. There was a general amble to get out of the hall and slowly chatter rose up while people discussed the curious events they had witnessed. Only Leshia and her friends stayed rooted to the spot.

"Leesh are you coming?" Katie asked softly, but Leshia shook her head.

"Dumbledore wants me to go with him," she replied meekly.

"That's probably for the best," Rachel now chimed in bravely, her smile false, but her voice powerful. "Maybe he can get rid of that vile thing."

"Does it hurt?" Rodeo asked, his dark eyebrows nearly coming together in worry. Leshia nodded shakily.

"A lot," she whispered. "It won't stop stinging."

The fourth year friends looked very much as though they wanted to scoop the injured girl up and carry her off with them, but the headmaster was still standing and waiting for her to join him. After a brave smile to her concerned friends Leshia climbed over the bench and approached the teachers' table. They were all still stood around, watching as the cause of all this uproar walked up to them. Leshia felt ashamed and dirty and tried to hide the mark on her hand from their pitying gazes.

The girl felt especially annoyed at the grave expression on Severus Snape's face…he seemed almost protective of her, which only fuelled the girl's upset. The last thing she wanted now was for known enemies to start smudging the borders and acting like friends. Before too long the girl had reached the head table where Dumbledore reached out a hand to her.

"Come Leshia, join me in my study." The girl nodded stiltedly and followed her headmaster out the door Tripper had fled by moments before. They spoke not a word on the short walk to the statue of the Phoenix that concealed the entrance to Dumbledore's study. Before too long though they were walking into the round grand dome Leshia had many a time come to know. How often had she been called here?

'Too many times,' she sighed to herself as she made herself comfortable in one of the deep-seated chairs before Dumbledore's desk. She felt a shiver of embarrassment and shame when she saw her scrapbook sat in the middle of the headmaster's desk. Dumbledore saw her gaze fall on the book.

"Yes, that is why you have been branded child," he said softly, before he took up his own seat behind the desk. "It is a weak and shameless excuse to use you as a pawn in their mission to get to your father, but there we have it. Sometimes fear makes even great men do weak and shameless things."

"Excuse me sir?" Leshia finally spoke. "But who's trying to get to my dad?"

"Minister Crayik," Dumbledore replied easily. "That is why Mr Tripper has come to work in our midst Miss Malfoy. Your father is a powerful man and one the Minister has been persuaded to mistrust."

"Sir I thought…well…the minister, he doesn't trust me either does he?" A sad smile pulled onto Dumbledore's weathered face, before finally he shook his head.

"You are a curiosity. A powerful young witch who has a remarkable ability to escape dangerous situations unscathed. This frightens them. And also, though I feel ashamed on their behalf to admit this, they fear you because your father raised you. As long as they suspect and fear him, they will suspect and fear you also."

"They're right to feel afraid," the girl muttered bitterly. "I _hate_ them! They're cowards! After everything he did for them. After everything he had to give up!" Leshia's shoulders rose and fell dramatically, but then they dropped when she thought of all the times her father had sacrificed their time together for the ministry when she was growing up. "Everything _I _had to give up. They've got no right to think he's working against them!"

"No child, they don't," Dumbledore sighed.

"He's only ever tried to do what's best," the girl was continuing. "He worked like a dog for them! Why don't they trust him?" Just where this protective energy was flowing from Leshia wasn't sure, but deep within her the loyal creature that was her Malfoy heritage awoke spitting and screaming.

"I believe it was when Lucius reappeared," Dumbledore replied with a well-concealed smile. He could never let the girl know how relieved her father would feel to see her talking in such terms.

"But Lucius tried to _kill_ me. He attacked my mum and dad. Why would he do that if he was working with us?"

"They are frightened because Draco, who has been responsible for a great number of important cases, lied to them. Your father told them long ago that Lucius had been killed, that he himself had taken the Death Eater's life. When it became evident he had lied your father faced an inquiry into all other cases he had dealt with…"

"He what?" Leshia gasped. "He never said anything…"

"Over the past year and half Miss Malfoy your father has been under an enormous amount of strain, but why should he show this to his daughter? For as long as I have known Draco as a father he has tried his best to protect his children from the dangers that surround them and the trouble they find themselves in."

"But he…" the girl trailed off and her eyes fell to the scrapbook.

"Draco has faced a backlash from the people he once strove so hard to help. The general public still hold him in high regard though, which will not do of course. For many months now it has been Minister Crayik's intention to slander your father and lock him away where he can be controlled." Leshia looked up with wide eyes once more.

"Lock him away?" she whispered. "In Azkaban?" Grimly Dumbledore nodded.

"As I said Miss Malfoy, fear makes even great and powerful men do shameful things."

"But my dad's not scary, not really. He's…well he's…he's my dad." Despite the gravity of the situation Dumbledore chuckled warmly and nodded.

"And you are a teenaged girl, yet they fear you. Fear you enough to brand you in such a way." Dumbledore's wise blue eyes fell to the itching mark on Leshia's young right hand – her writing hand for maximum exposure.

"What does it mean sir? It looks like an eye."

"It _is_ an eye. Or rather, it's _the_ Eye. Only the foulest of criminals and most suspected felons in the country are put under the power of the Eye. They can trace you now and observe your movements. It is a mark of utmost shame in most circles. Rarely, if ever, are people branded with the Eye and then turn out to be innocent." Leshia frowned worriedly.

"I've never heard of this Eye," Leshia complained. "If it's so shameful, then how come us kids don't know about it?" Once more the old headmaster smiled sadly.

"Be thankful you do not know all the world's dark secrets young lady. The Eye is a manifestation of a paranoid governance. Crayik introduced the system long ago when he was the Minister of Aurors. It was a dark time when Voldemort's followers were causing nearly as much trouble as their dark lord had once caused. The Eye was one of the many ways to combat the dark forces and though it has fallen out of regular usage, many still remember the wide berth given to those with the eye seared into their flesh."

"Will it ever go away?" Leshia asked worriedly and she rubbed at the itching mark on her hand. Dumbledore nodded slowly.

"If you are proven innocent, you will be removed from the list and the mark will fade."

"How come there aren't more of these things floating about? I mean if I can get one for making a scrapbook then surely half of Slytherin must have one? They're a nasty bunch of…"

"Alecia," the wizened wizard chuckled gravely. "I have already told you about the extraordinary circumstances that have led to you being shamed in such a disproportionately serious manner. Only a few years ago and Crayik would never have dreamed of using it on a fifteen-year-old girl, let alone the daughter of Draco Malfoy, but as I said, fear is twisting the Minister into a man he can barely recognise I am sure. Now then, this scrapbook…" Leshia winced when the headmaster opened the book and glanced at the scribbled notes alongside the newspaper clippings. "You can see how this might look to a man such as Silas Tripper?"

"Yes sir," the girl uttered grimly. "But it's the truth isn't it? I mean I am trying to find him, I haven't lied about that."

The old wizard sighed heavily and rested his bearded chin on his balled up hand. For a moment his keen eyes examined the youngster sat before him.

"Why are you trying to find your grandfather?"

"I thought that much would be obvious," Leshia complained childishly. "He tried to kill me! It's because of him that nobody trusts me or my dad. Who wouldn't want to get back at him?"

For a moment Dumbledore stared deeply into Leshia's eyes as though he were trying to read her very soul. The girl shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, but held her own. Eventually the old man looked down at the scrapbook once more and shook his head.

"You must tread carefully Leshia," he finally spoke softly. "The Eye means you are in their sight and they will stop at nothing to find you guilty of crimes you could not even have imagined. You started on this path a long time ago and I cannot stop you, but please promise me you will not go looking for trouble. I feel it will find you before too long."

For a moment the blonde girl felt her skin crawl at this grave forecast, but finally she nodded sincerely.

"I'll keep my head down sir."

"Good. I hope you do not mind, but I feel it best if I hang onto this for the time being." Leshia glanced to the scrapbook and felt a peculiar sense of longing for her work, but after a few moments she nodded.

"Of course. Um…" the girl hesitated while she climbed to her feet, feeling ashamed of what she wanted to ask. Dumbledore sensed her concerns.

"Your father has gone home at my bidding. He will be back shortly. It was important for me to discuss these matters with you privately Leshia and you know your father better than any. Had he remained he would not have left your side for love nor money."

"Will I be able to talk to him when he comes?" Leshia asked miserably, hating herself for needing to see her father, for needing his support and protection.

"I am sure he will come for you when we are through." For a moment Leshia hesitated, but eventually she nodded and climbed to her feet. Her initial terror had now subsided into an irritated annoyance. How dare the Ministry use her as a pawn to get to her father!

"Sir the letter, it said something about reporting to a Ministry official…that'll Professor Tripper won't it?" Dumbledore's blue eyes stared calmly at the young girl, before he nodded slowly.

"Yes. You will have to go to his office every day until this mess is sorted out. I have to warn you Leshia; you must not cross him while he holds ultimate control over your fate. Do not give him a reason to drag you before a panel. He may ask you anything he wishes during your daily meetings and I hope dear girl that you answer him truthfully."

Leshia hung her head and sighed heavily.

"What about when I'm home for Christmas, what happens then?"

"Do not think of that yet Leshia, I cannot imagine that you will still wear the Eye come Christmas time…"

"Yes, but _if_? What will happen?"

"Well I would think you would need to report in at the Ministry of Magic every day, but as I said, do not allow such thoughts to trouble you."

Leshia nodded falsely, wondering how she ought not let such troubling events bother her. The Ministry were steps away from locking her away and thought her a threat to the Wizarding population, what was there to worry about?

"Sir…you won't let my father fight him will you?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, I saw, I saw them facing off about to duel, but if my dad attacks Tripper…I mean Professor Tripper, then he'll be locked away won't he? So I suppose I'm just asking you to talk my dad out of it when you see him."

A broad smile grew on Dumbledore's weathered face, but eventually he nodded.

"I have no doubt your father feels he is owed revenge, but I will do my best to dissuade him. He is a reasonable man, I am sure he will not act rashly."

"Okay," the girl uttered unsurely, but she started backing away towards the door nonetheless. She was rubbing the cruel mark on her hand.

"I wish I could recommend something for the pain," the old headmaster sighed and Leshia could have sworn his voice sounded heavy with emotion and sorrow. "But you will find nothing can alleviate it. It was designed to remind you constantly of your predicament and it will bother you till the day it is finally removed."

"Was it also designed to make you really embarrassed?" the girl grumbled tetchily eliciting a fond chuckle from the wise old man behind the desk.

"Perhaps. Return to Gryffindor Tower now Leshia. The Heads of Houses have explained the situation to the student body, but you can be assured many will have questions to ask of you."

"Can I tell them everything?"

"I would advise using your discretion child, do you wish to aid the Ministry in weakening your father's position by spreading rumours of their suspicions of him?" Quickly Leshia shook her head.

"No, I would never!"

"Then there is your answer." The girl turned to go, but before she was quite out the door Dumbledore called out to her, "Leshia."

"Yes?"

"Should Mr Tripper be abusing his new position as your keeper, you must notify me right away." The steely look was back in Dumbledore's keen blue eyes and though his anger was not directed at her Leshia shuddered inwardly.

"Yes sir."

Quickly Leshia descended the spiral steps and emerged in the dark corridor beyond. In the moonlight her new branded mark glowed a sinister red. For a moment it glowed bright, accompanied by a searing pain.

"Ow!" the girl cried out and hugged her injured hand close to her chest. "You _buggers_!"

She was too furious to return to the common room. Besides, she didn't feel she could handle an inquisition from well-meaning friends and peers. With a determined frown she set off towards the courtyard from which she would be able to monitor the comings and goings to the Headmaster's study. She wanted her father to get there so she could make sure he definitely wasn't about to attack Tripper. Though her own predicament was very grave, Leshia's only thoughts were on her father's.

"How dare they suspect him, after everything," she grumbled while she dropped down on a secluded bench deep in the shadows. Nobody would find her here.

XXX

Draco paced the corridor with a heavyset frown and a dark glint in his usually pale eyes. His thoughts were lingering on the Ancient Runes quarters where he could so easily slip instead of to the Headmaster's study and curse that coward Tripper into oblivion. Hermione had taken the news of their daughter's branding rather well and with the usual optimism Draco had come to admire in his wife, whereas his thoughts were only dark and grave.

Up ahead the statue of the Phoenix loomed and with a heavy sigh Draco sped on. He paused outside of it and uttered the password causing the spiral staircase to lurch into action for a moment. The tall and dangerous man was about to step onto it when something caught his attention…or rather a feeling niggled at the back of his head and made him turn around and glance into the dark courtyard. He couldn't explain why he was drawn to it and felt he would have explored the peculiar feeling had he not needed to see the Headmaster.

Instead of marching off to investigate though he shook his head to remove the chilling sensation and raced up the stairs at a jog. The Headmaster's door lay ajar and after knocking ever so lightly, the once Death Eater stepped over the threshold to find the wizened old headmaster waiting for him.

"Draco," Dumbledore called to the impatient man he had long known as his friend. "Do sit down."

The angry man obliged the headmaster and sat in the seat his daughter had only recently vacated. He had only been sitting a moment before his eyes were drawn towards the scrapbook still lying on Dumbledore's desk.

"May I?"

"Of course Draco, take it," the older man offered humbly. Within an instant Draco had snatched up the book filled with his daughter's writing and his father's paper trail. His brow dipped lower and lower as he read, until finally he let out an exasperated sigh and threw the book onto the desk once more in anger.

"That girl! Tripper's on her case and she purposefully incriminates herself with crap like this?" Infuriated, and with no arena to vent his frustrations, Draco shut his eyes tightly and leant hard on his balled up fist, but the angry feelings still remained so he kicked out at one of the table legs making the grand old desk shudder. "I'm sorry Albus, I just can't quite believe this has happened. Leshia…the Eye! It's just all so surreal. What the hell is Crayik thinking?"

"Minister Crayik has long been under the sway of the likes of Tripper and those like him. You know that Draco. So long as the Minister has a nervous council of advisors whispering in his ear you will never be free from their condemnation and sadly, neither will your daughter."

"This is madness though Albus, since when has the Eye been used to brand a fifteen-year-old girl? If the press caught wind of this…"

"There would be a lot of awkward questions to answer," Dumbledore quickly interrupted. "Do not invite the wolf to the door Draco, you would soon regret their involvement. The press are ravenous and will twist a story so as to appeal to the public. You could very easily make your situation worse."

Draco grinded his teeth together and held Dumbledore's gaze for a moment. What could he do? There was little choice but to quietly accept what had happened while campaigning through the right channels to have his precious daughter's removed from a list she had no business being on.

"She's been assigned to Tripper hasn't she?" the man finally asked darkly, eliciting a nod of affirmation from the headmaster. "He'll eat her alive. You know my daughter Albus, she's got the patience of a cocker spaniel, he would have her perpetrating all manner of misdemeanours before the week was through. Do you think I might sit in on their meetings?"

The expression on Draco's face clearly read he was unwilling to take no for an answer.

"That decision is not mine to make and you and I both know Tripper will refuse such a request."

"Yes, but Leshia is an underage witch. Surely they cannot deny the girl the protection of a guardian?"

"There is no precedent for such a case that much is certain. I feel that should you personally appeal to Minister Crayik he would oblige you in this matter. I feel your influence has not been entirely corrupted yet," Dumbledore responded carefully. Draco nodded.

"No I agree. That old dog may be a coward, but he can't ignore the sacrifices I've made for him."

The two men lapsed into silence while Draco drummed his fingers on his leg; it was as though he were itching to get going so as to call on the Minister at once. Crayik would no doubt avoid him for as long as possible, which meant Draco could spare no time. He _had_ to get through to the Minister before Leshia's first meeting with Tripper the following day.

"Albus I should go."

"Yes I know. There is much to be done. I too will try to hail the Minister. I feel he and I have much to discuss." Draco rose to his feet. "Before you go Draco, your daughter asked me to ensure you would not fight Silas when you see him." Draco's brow rose up on his forehead in surprise.

"She what?"

"She is very concerned that you will fall right into their hands by acting revenge on Mr Tripper. I too feel it would be unwise to pander to his obvious attempt to lure you into a battle that might see you incarcerated for a long time."

"Leshia was concerned about me?" Draco seemed beside himself quite suddenly and the sight of it made Dumbledore smile.

"Indeed, loyal as well. You will find her down in the courtyard I believe. She has been waiting for you." Draco registered the coincidence in his mind but spoke nothing of it to the headmaster. Why had he felt such a strange sensation in response to the courtyard? Usually he could use his Legilimensy to sense when Leshia was near, but on this occasion he hadn't known her to be hiding in the shadows. Rather, something quite alien to him had caught his attention.

"I'll keep you informed of my process Albus," Draco spoke heavily on his way to the door.

"And I you. Good luck Draco." With this the hot-headed man disappeared through the door and hurried down the steps towards the courtyard. He was there within moments, peering into the shadows, trying to ignore the peculiar feeling he got in the back of his mind, but then he saw a little shape huddled on a bench in the corner. Slowly he straightened up, as he had been leaning over to peer into the darkness, and approached the figure alone in the dark.

He spoke not a word as he sat down beside his daughter on the bench and stared down at the slightly glowing mark on her young hand. The shock he felt when he realised that _it_ was the source of his peculiar sensation he hid well and did not let on to his daughter that he feared the fact that he couldn't sense her though he could sense that mark on her hand.

"Is it hurting?" he asked softly. Slowly the girl nodded in the dark.

"Lots," she whispered in response. "What'll happen now?"

"We go on as normal and we don't let them win."

"Dad I'm _so_ angry," the girl uttered and her tone betrayed the fury she felt at being stigmatised in such a way. Draco smiled despite the gravity of the situation and nodded.

"I can understand that."

"No you don't understand," the girl countered sharply. "I want to kill him! Tripper I mean. He's such a rat!"

"Sweetheart don't say things like that," Draco admonished quietly.

"Why? It's true!"

"Because of this," Draco replied and he reached out to lift his daughter's branded hand. The girl didn't pull away. "You'll have to tread carefully from now on."

"Surely it can't tell what I'm thinking. Can it?" Draco smiled sadly and held tightly to his little girl's small hand.

"I used to think so. You see…I had one once."

"What? When?"

"Do you remember me telling you they put me on trial?" Leshia nodded in the dark. "Well prior to the hearing I was branded with the Eye. It only took one dubious conversation with a dark character down Knockturn Alley to land me in Azkaban. They wouldn't listen to me when I explained the man was an informer. When you're branded anything you do will be considered evidence against you."

"You never told me about the Eye before."

"It's not exactly something I'm proud of sweetheart," the tall man chuckled. "Besides, you never told me about that scrapbook of yours."

"Well that's different," the girl complained weakly.

"Oh yes and why's that?"

"Because I'm not speaking to you right now. If I were then I might have told you." Despite the anger bubbling in the pit of Draco's stomach he burst out into hearty laughter and wrapped his arm about his daughter.

"Oh of course, because when we're getting on you and I, you tell me everything. How foolish of me to forget." In the dark Leshia smirked.

"Dad I wish I didn't…I mean, I wish I didn't have to…"

"Hate me?"

"I don't hate you," Leshia complained tiredly. "I don't hate you, but I wish things were the way they used to be. I really miss you. _And _mum."

"But Leshia we're still here," Draco complained passionately. "Nothing has changed in that respect. We still love you as much as we always have!"

Leshia sighed heavily and shook her head. How could they love her the same as they always had? They had two children to love now…surely their feelings for her had been at least halved by the arrival of their sister?

"Why are you so stubborn?" Draco demanded suddenly, though the girl could hear he was smiling; this allowed her to smile too.

"You know why. You and mum are hardly the most easy-going of people you know that?" Draco laughed heartily once more and squeezed his daughter's shoulders tightly. He felt he could stay there all night talking to his daughter in this comfortable manner. It had been many months since she had allowed him so close, but he had to leave. He _had_ to protect her from Crayik and Tripper.

"Sweetheart I have to go," Draco uttered reluctantly. Leshia seized up a little; she still needed her father, why did he have to leave?

"Why?" The panic in her tone made Draco's resolve waver furiously.

"Because I have to go see the Minister. I will not have that vile man Tripper interrogate and antagonise you on your own, but if I don't get permission from the Minister then I won't be allowed in with you."

His reason was sound and Leshia felt she couldn't really hold him back, as he was acting in her best interests, but a part of her didn't want to let him go. It was this part of her that grabbed onto his shirt.

"Don't go! Please! I don't want to be alone." The fear in her voice was agonising for her father, but firmly he pulled her hands from his shirt and stood to his feet. Leshia was helpless but to follow him and cling to his side.

"I'll walk you back to Gryffindor Tower, but then I really do have to go." Determinedly the father started guiding his teenaged daughter in the direction of Gryffindor Tower and though she rattled off a number of reasons why he couldn't leave her behind, he remained steadfast. By the time they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady Leshia's eyes were wide with worry and it broke Draco's heart to leave her in this state.

"Just go straight up to bed, don't feel you have to explain yourself to anyone," the tall man told the girl firmly. Leshia nodded weakly, resigned now to the fact that her father was leaving.

"Dad you won't do anything stupid will you?"

"Like what? Throw Crayik out a window?" Though he was joking there was a dark glint in Draco's eye.

"It's not funny! Promise me you won't?"

"I promise you I won't do anything to make this situation any worse. I'm trying to keep Crayik on side remember?" Warily Leshia nodded.

"Okay." Quite suddenly she threw her arms round her father's chest and hugged him tightly. This was all the affection she felt able to give and before her father had even been given the chance to properly respond she spun round and uttered the password to the portrait. It swung open promptly and without so much as glancing back Leshia hopped through it. The powerful emotions causing her heart to thump thunderously in her chest were confusing and terrifying and she had to get away; she had to talk to Katie and Rachel.

As she entered the common room the chattering Gryffindors trickled into silence and stared at the branded girl with wide eyes. She offered them a stubborn grimace, before walking through their midst with her head held high. Katie and Rachel were nowhere to be seen and so without a second thought Leshia careened up the stairs to the fourth year girls' dormitory.

Her friends were sat on Katie's bed with Luisa, trying to pretend to do their homework while their minds drifted off to Leshia's side. At the girl's arrival they jumped from the bed and enveloped their friend in an enormous and supportive hug.

"Are you okay?"

"What did Dumbledore say?"

"You've been gone ages!"

"We thought they'd carted you off to Azkaban!"

"We've been so worried!"

Leshia finally pulled back from her friends and caught sight of Luisa slipping out of the dormitory leaving the three friends to talk in private. Before the two cousins could get another word in Leshia retold the whole story to them. By the time she was done her friends were astonished and unsure of how to respond.

"You don't seem scared anymore," Katie finally spoke curiously. "You were practically shaking earlier."

"Oy," Leshia grumbled with a small smile. "Wouldn't you be scared?"

"That's the thing, I'd _still_ be scared!" Katie complained admiringly. "But you…"

"You've got that look in your eye Leesh," Rachel picked up when her cousin fell silent at a loss for words. "That 'I'm going to get my own back' sort of look."

Leshia shifted uncomfortably and rubbed at the back of her head.

"I _do_ want to get my own back," she finally replied. "But if I try anything Tripper will have me locked away. I'm worried about what my dad'll do to be honest. He's off to see the Minister now…I dread to think what'll happen if Crayik acts all arsy with him."

"Your dad can handle himself. If he's been under an inquisition for over a year then you don't have to worry about him cocking it up now," Rachel countered wisely to which Leshia nodded doubtfully.

"If you say so. All I know is if he doesn't win his case and I have to face Tripper on my own every day till they get rid of this bloody Eye…" Leshia waved her branded sore hand at her friends. "Then I'll land myself in Azkaban before the week is through!"

XXX

Everyone stopped and stared as Draco Malfoy stalked along the corridors towards Minister Crayik's offices. Time had flown by and the frustrated father had spent the whole night calling in favours in order to gain an audience with the Minister. It was now eight in the morning, which gave Draco only one hour to secure an acceptable solution to the grave problem of Leshia's branding. Though his primary concern was getting Crayik to agree to his accompanying her in her meetings with Tripper, a small part of him hoped he might make the Minister see sense and remove her from the List.

Guarding the entrance to the high security wing of the Ministry were four Aurors Draco had known well back in his Ministry days. They had been informed their ex-colleague would be stopping by, but even so, the sight of their former friend made them burn with shame. They had trusted Draco with their lives and still did. Crayik's paranoia hadn't spread to the ranks yet and those who had fought alongside Draco Malfoy had protested furiously against the branding of the man's daughter. Word of Leshia's fate hadn't been widely publicised, but most of the Auror department had heard and felt ashamed.

"All right Draco," the more senior of the Aurors at the door spoke up gruffly when Draco reached their side.

"Finch. I have an appointment with the Minister."

"Yes," Finch replied heavily. "We've heard. Sorry business, the whole thing, such a disgrace." His former colleague's solidarity strengthened Draco's nerve and he nodded minutely in thanks.

"It is."

"Go right on through, Minister Crayik is expecting you." With a nod to the men Draco continued through the door they held open for him and he found himself in the broad and decadent corridors of the Minister's offices. He knew the way and within moments had guided himself to the grand oak door that concealed the extravagant study of the Ministry of Magic. The brooding man swallowed hard before he reached out and knocked hard on the door.

As he did so a peculiar face sprung into life in what had appeared to be a normal panel on the door. Newcomers always got a fright when the Warden made its appearance, but Draco, being no stranger to the Minister's private study, merely blinked at the gnarled somewhat human face in the wood.

"Do you come in peace?" the ancient hoarse voice rang out. Quickly Draco nodded and almost immediately the face disappeared into the wood once more and the door swung open. Draco had never lied to the Warden, but often wondered at what might happen if he did. He had been told the creature inside the door could sense liars and indeed, on the few occasions that felons had managed to hoodwink the Aurors on guard and reached the Minister's study, they hadn't been able to get past the truth-seeing Warden.

For a moment Draco inhaled and exhaled slowly, gathering his thoughts and forcing himself to remain calm. Meeting his former employer who had so shamefully branded his child would test the limits of Draco's patience, but over the years he had grown to be a very patient man…for Leshia he would do anything!

Minister Crayik had always been a fierce looking man, but paranoia and fear had turned him fiercer still. His thick dark hair had grown silver over the months and the deep lines etched into his face that had once made him seem wise now looked cruel and painful. It was his eyes though that had truly changed. Gone was the keen glint that had kept both the public and the staff on their toes and in its stead there lay a wariness Draco construed as cowardice. Here before him sat not Caius Crayik; here before him sat an impostor.

"Sir," Draco offered darkly the moment he walked in the door.

"Malfoy," the Minister returned emotionlessly. The two men sized one another up until finally the older one indicated a chair opposite his desk. Once Draco had taken the seat Crayik spoke, "I was expecting you."

"Good, then you will know why I have come."

"I will tell you now that I am not going to change my mind. Anyone caught engaging in suspicious activity is branded with the Eye Malfoy and that includes fifteen-year-old girls! We live in dangerous times and we must stick to procedures!"

"Suspicious activity? Sir it was a scrapbook of newspaper clippings."

"Your daughter is trying to find the last known Death Eater Malfoy, what would you have me do?" Crayik countered bitterly.

"She has only thoughts of acting revenge upon her grandfather, not join his ranks," Draco complained. "The man tried to kill her! My daughter is similar in design to myself and you know where my thoughts lie. And tell me, do you really think a child would succeed where whole teams of experienced Aurors have failed? Where I have failed? Do you really think Leshia could have found Lucius?"

"If she is working in league with him he might leave her clues. How can we be sure what they might…"

"_Remember _who you are talking about…" Draco cut himself short and closed his eyes tightly for a moment to regain his senses. "Sir."

"Malfoy I…"

"Sir," Draco repeated heavily. "Silas Tripper will not rest until he sees me hanged. I can see you are starting to sway towards his manner of thinking or you wouldn't have sent him to work at Hogwarts. Tell me though, just _tell _me that you cannot possibly believe, as he does, that Leshia is capable of working in league with Lucius to bring the Dark Lord back."

Crayik stared plainly into the wounded father's eyes and couldn't help but let his mind drift back to the memories he had accumulated over the years of his encounters with young Alecia Malfoy. His very first meeting with the girl had found him lying flat on his back after his feet had been taken out from under him in the entrance hall of the Malfoy Townhouse. The culprit had been a three-year-old angelic looking child with blonde curls and enormous grey eyes. She had seemed all innocence and smiles, but Crayik knew she had raced her miniature broom towards him on purpose. He had known from the very beginning that the child of Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger was both extraordinarily powerful and also extraordinarily sly, but did shrewdness equate to working in league with the Dark Lord?

"I can only rely on the facts Malfoy," the Minister finally replied. "And the word of those whom I trust." Draco stared darkly across the desk and wanted to rant and rave about the injustice of trusting the opinion of a man who wanted nothing more than to see all every single Malfoy rotting away in Azkaban, but instead he nodded slowly.

"Of course. In truth, I have not come before you to have Leshia removed from the List, rather I have come to ask whether I might accompany her during her daily briefings with Tripper."

Crayik frowned thoughtfully and leaned his chin on his hand.

"Minister the girl is underage after all and though there is no precedent for such a case I feel you must act in her best interests. She has yet to be proven guilty and until such a judgment is made you cannot expose her to a potentially harmful and terrifying experience unaccompanied."

"You are right in saying that this is the first such case," Crayik finally spoke. He seemed dubious. "I'm not sure the situation calls for a guardian though…"

"Think of it as a personal favour _sir_," Draco cut in icily, carefully and clearly pronouncing each word as though he were reading to a very young child. "But not a favour to me, a favour to the girl, a favour she is owed."

"What are you talking about? Speak sense man!"

"Throughout her life she had to go without the full attention and care of her only parent because he was too busy aiding the very same Ministry that has now turned its back on her."

"Your failure to attend to your daughter does not mean the Ministry owes her a debt of gratitude Malfoy," Crayik countered sharply.

"Perhaps not directly, but had she caused more of a fuss and demanded my attention then I would not have been able to put in the hours and Britain may still be plagued by Death Eaters. Indirectly sir, you must admit the country has prospered at a child's expense."

He was playing a risky game and he knew it, but Crayik seemed so far from allowing Draco to protect his daughter. The Minister was leaning back in his chair and narrowing his eyes, as though he were trying to find fault with Draco's story. Once Crayik had been a man of incredible honour and justice and this sensible side could not deny the truth behind Draco's words. In some roundabout way Leshia Malfoy had been forced to sacrifice her childhood happiness in order for her father to save the country and aid the Ministry.

A sharp jab of shame jolted the Minister back to the present and he quickly covered it with a cough.

"You will accompany her to her daily briefings," the fierce man ordered starkly. "I will inform Tripper. If you have no other matters to discuss with me Malfoy then be gone, I have much to be getting on with."

A small smile graced Draco's ravaged face before he inclined his head slightly in thanks. No more words needed to be spoken and within moments he had crossed the door and paced down the corridors. The meeting had not been entirely profitable, in that Leshia still bore the Eye, but at least he would be able to protect her from their immediate concern: Silas Tripper.

XXX

And so life for Leshia went on. Her daily routine now had to make room for a gruelling thirty-minute session with her least favoured member of the castle, but at least her father was on hand to shield her from the worst of it. Often she would hold his hand childishly, but he would never mention it. He knew the Eye pained her more intensely when Tripper turned his interrogating questions on her. Sometimes he would rub his thumb over the glowing Eye and he would feel it settling the frightened girl at his side. It calmed him also and prevented him from climbing to his feet and snapping Tripper's foul pockmarked neck.

Everyone had been very understanding of the night the owls came. Just what the Heads of Houses had told the pupils of Hogwarts Leshia wasn't quite sure (as no one would really talk to her about it), though she did know she owed them a debt of gratitude. Only though unscrupulous characters such as Damian Allseyer and his gang of cronies brought up the shameful Eye, but Leshia grew very good at ignoring the boy. She knew she had to be on her best behaviour lest Tripper use it as an excuse to lock her away. Privately though she registered each unpleasant comment and gesture and vowed she would get the vile boy back some day.

Those close to Leshia would attest that every cloud has a single lining, as since her branding Leshia had shifted into a semblance of her old self once more. She stayed close to her friends and behaved how she always had. Not once did she lock eyes with a boy she did not know and often chose to squeeze herself between Katie and Rachel rather than risk sitting beside someone of the opposite gender.

And finally in a flurry of excitement the final week of term arrived bringing with it tasteful Christmas decorations and an extra owl post delivery each day to cope with the influx of cards and gifts. The final Thursday of term was a bittersweet morning for those youngsters who had put their names down to perform in the Hearing Aid charity performance. And though most had been practicing daily towards the end everyone felt a jitter of nervousness when they walked into the great hall that day. The stage was yet to be set up, but all about the hall enormous banners displaying the bands (photos the various bands had posed for the day before, much to their amusement and joy).

Lessons seemed to go excrutiangly slowly that day, despite the fact that many of their teachers had given up on actually trying to _educate_ their pupils in favour of allowing them to do fun activities. Finally though the last bell of the day rang out. Most pupils sauntered off to enjoy their common rooms, but all those in a band were called in for a full run through of the concert.

The Small Band had drawn a line-up towards the end of the night and as to whether this was a good or bad thing, the group were decidedly divided.

"Everyone will compare us to whoever's come before," Katie muttered under her breath while a shrill Slytherin girl band belted out an unpleasant rendition of a Cauldron Chicks song on stage.

"Yeah well if they're comparing us to this then you've got nothing to worry about," Rachel complained firmly.

"She's right Katie, I think that last high note actually pierced my eardrum," Parys added sounding pained.

"Plus there's the fact that everyone'll be bouncing off the walls at that point, so they won't be so critical…hey, hey! Check Leesh." As one the members of the Small Band spun round to see the blonde girl, who at this moment in time was looking both terribly disgusted, angry, afraid and upset all in one expression. After a few moments she realised her friends were laughing at her and she threw them a big grin.

"Sorry, I just…why are they doing this? What did we ever do?" Her hand she flung in the direction of the out-of-tune Slytherins. "How're you feeling Rach? Ready to knock 'em dead?"

"Hardly," Rachel countered coyly and she rubbed her cheek embarrassedly.

"Aww look how shy she is," Parys instantly teased the girl. "I didn't know your cheeks knew how to blush Rach. Is that something you've just had done or…"

"Oh ha ha," the redhead complained, though an enormous smile had pulled onto her face. "Look lively, we're going on after this next lot."

The chattered amongst themselves humorously until quite suddenly they were all silenced by a tremendously fast drum solo. As one the Small band turned and stared in awe at the band of seventh year Ravenclaws who had by now burst into a professional sounding original song. It was very catchy!

"Crap," Leshia finally exclaimed on behalf of the group.

"We've got to go on after _them_?"

"Is it too late to bail?" Rodeo muttered grimly, earning himself a sharp jab in the ribs courtesy of Rachel's elbow.

"We're not bailing! You lot are a bunch of wusses, now pull yourselves together and lets go get ready."

The suddenly gloomy band members followed Rachel out into the staff corridor, which was serving as a 'backstage' area with their heads hanging. Only their leader at the front held her head high and felt strengthened by her confidence in her own abilities. While they waited for the frighteningly professional song to come to a close Leshia sidled over to Rodeo's side, who was gripping his guitar with an expression of pure terror.

"How're you feeling?" the girl asked in an undertone.

"Well," her friend replied contemplatively, betraying none of the fear in his expression. Indeed, he sounded amused. "Let's see, I can't feel my fingers, I've got a cold sweat running down my back and I'm pretty sure I've forgotten how to make my legs work, but other than that, just fine. How'bout you?"

Leshia met the boy's eyes and rolled her own.

"Hey I've been telling you lot all along including me in this little shindig would be your own undoing, so actually, I'm quite looking forward to being able to say 'I told you so'."

"Don't be so hard on yourself Leesh, you're tons better than you used to be."

"Well considering where I started out," the girl countered with a big smile. "That's not saying much!"

"Agh Leesh," Rodeo grumbled and he leaned into the girl to nudge her playfully.

"Well I suppose it could have been worse."

"Oh yeah?"

"I mean I could have poked an eye or two out by now."

"Hey there's still time."

The pair laughed happily with one another, before quite suddenly the prodigal band on stage brought their song to a close to the clatter of applause coming from the few youngsters who were milling about in the hall. Rachel turned on her friends while they filed off like a General would when facing his troops on the front.

"We can do this guys!" she called to them. Leshia thought it more of a battle cry than encouragement. In fact the flame-haired girl seemed so fierce in her resolve that their band wouldn't be considered a flop that Leshia felt she wouldn't dare say anything to counter her. Instead she raised her drumsticks into the air and cried out unsurely,

"Yeah?"

"Let's go." And with this Rachel led the way onto the stage and waited before the microphone while everyone found their places. For a moment each and every one of them froze under the scrutiny of the bright lights and the mildly curious faces of the awaiting youngsters. There was an awful silence in which Leshia completely forgot it was her duty to get them all going. Rachel remembered though and turned around sharply.

"Leesh," she ordered through gritted teeth. "You're up."

The blonde girl behind the drums shook herself out of her daze and then stared down at her white knuckles, as they gripped at the drumsticks Luke had given her.

"Okay, here goes nothing," she finally whispered to herself before quite promptly she started playing as they had rehearsed. The girl couldn't help but compare this new 'skill' to her more favoured pastime of playing quidditch. Where flying hundreds of feet above the ground with only a slim piece of wood to hold her up and battling the odds to stay aloft while throwing herself into death-defying stunts came so naturally, this new task of keeping a steady rhythm going and providing the backbone to an otherwise okay band was strenuous and difficult. Every time she missed a beat or hit the wrong drum she cringed and felt a little less confident until finally she was happy to come to the end of the song.

Thankfully, nobody had even heeded the blonde girl or heard the mistakes she made. Everyone had been completely and utterly blown away by the surprisingly fabulous singer that was Rachel Weasley. In the past Rachel had of course received a lot of attention; she was the best friend of Leshia Malfoy for starters, but had earned their attention and recognition in her own right by playing her part in the extraordinary circumstances Leshia had found herself in over the years. People though, had never really known anything that set the redhead girl apart from the crowd, until now…

Boy that girl could sing!

The crowds were cheering as loud as they had done for the semi-professional seventh years and as Rachel led the way off the stage she seemed in a world of her own. With a grace her friends hadn't known her to possess she streamed through the crowds of people wanting to congratulate her and took their praise in her stride. It was as though she had been born to be a performer and was now giving the crowds exactly what they wanted.

Her band of friends behind her could only stare in amazement and grin at one another occasionally; of all the people who deserved this, it was Rachel!

XXX

Word of the singing sensation that was Rachel Weasley spread through the school like wildfire and by the time the crowds took their seats in the Great Hall they were all intrigued about the Weasley girl and looking forward for Small Band to take to the stage. Those most curious were the girl's sisters Hermia and Emelia. That their older sister might possess a pleasant singing voice was of course not news to them, but they had never heard her described in such illustrious ways. The older of the two, Hermia, was indignant that her sister was receiving such school-wide acclaim while the younger, Emelia, bounced up and down on her seat impatiently waiting for Rachel to come on.

The girl barely heeded the other bands, though she had to laugh at the hilarious version of a Muggle song that several of the older years put on. She had never heard of the song 'Barbie Girl' and indeed, had no idea what a 'Barbie' was, but she certainly enjoyed the hilarious singing and prancing about. Finally, after the hall had been first tortured by the Slytherin girls' out of tune singing and then dazzled by the amazing talent of the Seventh year Ravenclaws on trotted the Small Band.

Where before they had been nervous, now most of them were damn right terrified. Leshia especially felt her heart fluttering so fast she was sure it was about to leap from her chest in an attempt to escape the potentially mortifying situation. She paused longer than she should of and soon found Rodeo, nearest to her, uttering a hushed, "Pssst," in her direction.

'Here goers nothing,' she thought grimly, before once more she burst into the opening of the song.

Similar mistakes were made and even some new ones crept into the routine, but once more those who noticed were highly outnumbered by those who were simply stunned into silence by the vocal stylings of the previously unknown singing sensation Rachel Weasley.

Again, when the song came to a close the hall erupted into applause and catcalls. Hogwarts were going wild for their school's latest celebrity and the way Rachel's face lit up at the attention was a warming sight for those close enough to see it. Though the school cheered on the Small Band had to clear the stage and make way for the unfortunate number coming on after them, but they'd been gone only two minutes when the chanting started,

"We want Weasley! We want Weasley! We want Weasley!"

Rachel froze.

"Are you hearing this?" Katie spluttered, her face contorted into an enormous smile.

"Rach!" Leshia added, equally as overjoyed for their friend. "They're totally chanting your name!"

Rachel was too shocked for words. All about them smiling performers were clambering to get close to new celebrity and offer their congratulations, but before they could the girl was wrenched back towards the stage by a flustered looking Professor McGonagall.

"You're going to have to go back on," the stern-faced woman was telling the Small Band.

"But Professor we haven't got any other songs for them…" Katie tried, only to be silenced by the stern-faced ageing witch.

"You're going back on and that's the end of it." By now she'd guided the startled youngsters back to the stage. Those near the front could see them hovering in the door and a cheer went up, which quickly caught on. "Miss Weasley," McGonagall was continuing, though she sounded softer now as she took hold of Rachel's arms and offered her a genuine proud smile. "Where have you been hiding that talent?"

With this the girl was propelled back onto the stage, where the disgruntled band who had come on to perform were making way for the more popular performers. With the ease of one born in the spotlight Rachel sauntered over to the microphone while the band behind her took their places.

"Um…" she spoke into it, feeling highly thankful for the bright lights that could not show how flushed her cheeks were. "Thanks?"

A roar of approval met her ears.

"Um, we haven't exactly prepared another number, but…" With a small cheeky grimace the girl glanced over her shoulder to her friends, who were staring at her curiously. "We might be able to pull something out of our sleeves."

While the crowds cheered on raucously Rachel mouthed three words to her friends that made them groan cumulatively and hope against hope that their friend was joking, but moments later she confirmed the worst by breaking out powerfully into the first line of 'My Little Broomstick'. While the Hogwarts crowd both laughed and cheered jubilantly the Small Band rushed to join in and provide a backing for their prodigal lead singer.

Improvising was not Leshia's forte and having to start mid-song was something she had never practiced, but after stumbling in uncoordinatedly she managed to catch up and within no time she felt relaxed in this well-known song she had rehearsed many a time with the band. This did not mean that when they came to a close for the second time she didn't feel relieved and jubilantly she ran off the stage to the wall of noise coming from the excitable pupils.

"Rach you're a legend!" Parys roared in the redhead's ears the moment they appeared in the staff corridor.

"Yeah, you even turned that naff song into a hit!" Rodeo added before he hugged the girl roughly. Rachel's eyes were glassy and by the time Leshia had finally waited in line long enough she pulled Luisa from her best friend and faced her directly.

"I don't know what to say," she finally burst out laughing when words failed her and she just held up her hands uselessly. She had never felt so much selfless enjoyment for her friend in all her days. "You're just, you know…I'm speechless."

"Well," Rachel spluttered through laughter so happy tears streamed down her cheeks. "If I can make Alecia Malfoy speechless, then that's enough for me."

XXX

Long after the concert had finished and the performers had all rushed off to change only to return to an enthusiastic party in the Great Hall Rachel and her friends were still glowing. The girl had never received so much praise in her life and the others were all very happy for the girl to take the spotlight. Leshia especially felt peculiarly good and satisfied at putting herself in an awkward situation to make her best friend so happy. She felt gratified and good and selfless and all other good things she couldn't describe.

All night the Small Band members danced amongst themselves and though a number of suitors approached to dance with both Leshia and unsurprisingly with Rachel, the girls turned them away and made it a 'friends only' night. Before too long they would be going their separate ways for the holidays and none could have thought of a better way to send each other off than with this amazing party.

The night did come to an end however, and faster than any would have liked. Friday was approaching and with it came the send off for the foreign exchange pupils. A feast was held in their honour that last day of term and though Leshia had experienced a turbulent time with the newcomers, particularly the boys, she did feel very sorry to see Luisa go. Yes, she hadn't spent much time with the girl, but she was nice enough and had been such a good friend to Katie.

Katie herself was a miserable thing and cried long after Luisa had gone. Her friends couldn't really find the right words to comfort her, though they tried long and hard. Even as they boarded the Hogwarts Express the next day they spent the entire journey trying to make their bespectacled friend smile. It seemed a lost cause until finally Rachel managed in the least likely of ways,

"Crap," she grumbled after opening her trunk to drop her robes into it. The reason for her dismay was the hefty looking homework assignment they had been given in Ancient Runes. "This is going to ruin my holiday, I can damn well tell you that much!"

"I'm looking forward to it actually," a small sniffling voice came from the corner and as one everyone turned in shock at Katie, as though she had suddenly grown a second head.

"Oh you're impossible!" Leshia complained finally, though she relished in the small smile that crept onto Katie's face. "Well you can do mine for me."

"Yeah! Mine and all!"

"Look why don't the pair of you come round this weekend and we'll get it out the way? How does that sound?"

Rachel and Leshia didn't stop laughing until the train had pulled into King's Cross Station and before they knew it it was time to start unloading their heavy trunks onto the platform. Everywhere Rachel turned appreciative grins were jumping out to meet her and the girl felt, as they made their way towards a tall red head in the distance that could only be her father, that she was floating on cloud nine. Leshia's mood could not have differed more; the closer she came to having to say goodbye to her friends for the holiday and the closer she came to having to go home with her parents the heavier her feet became until it felt as though she were dragging them across the platform. How easy it would be to disappear amidst the busy crowd and spend the holiday living on the streets before school called them all back again.

But there would be no such reprieve for Leshia and before too long they'd reached the group of parents. Hermione was hopping up and down impatiently, baby Evie strapped to her chest and at the sight of them Leshia felt a stab of envy and loneliness. She couldn't get over how much her sister had grown. The baby was six months old now and was starting to pay keen attention to the world around her. Her large dark eyes roved over every sight there was to see and her chubby hands reached out for everything that came near.

"Leshia darling!" Hermione called out the moment the girls appeared through the mass of reuniting families. Dutifully the blonde girl stepped forward and allowed her mother to embrace her, though she felt sick to her stomach at the way Evie's hands excitedly pulled at her hair. The baby's laughter brought an involuntary grimace to Leshia's face that she couldn't quite hide away once she was released. Before her mother could call her on it though and strong hand had clamped down on Leshia's shoulder and she turned round to see her father stood behind her and smiling at his wife. Upon seeing Draco Evie erupted into an outburst of incomprehensible noise and she clapped her little hand together in pleasure. The tall man smiled and reached out to lift the baby from the carrier Hermione held her in.

Leshia looked away while he greeted her sister.

'It's not like he's been away all term!' she grumbled inwardly. 'She will have seen him this morning the idiot.'

The blonde girl found herself staring at the reunion between Rachel and her father and felt a pang of jealousy. Ron's attention was solely on his oldest child, who had heard word of her breathtaking performance from Draco when all the 'parents' joined together for a pre-children's-homecoming drink. The red-haired man seemed captivated by the blushing girl before him and despite herself Leshia let out a fed-up sounding sigh.

Searching around for anything to delay having to face her parents Leshia caught sight of Owen Gabriel struggling against the embrace of his mother. So this was the legendary Lucy Gabriel? Without her quidditch armour and not sat astride a broom the woman seemed frighteningly alike the other parents milling about the place. She had the same nondescript brown hair and hazel eyes that Owen had taken to wearing so well in recent months and she was quite tall for a woman. Owen's father, Adam Gabriel, seemed so unlike his son that Leshia questioned wickedly for a moment whether he really was the young man's father. Yes, he was exceedingly tall, but here the similarities ended.

Adam Gabriel was a hulk of a man with thick black hair, probing blue eyes and a very angular face. Where Owen was attractive in a charming sense, his charismatic features softening a girl's heart once he started speaking, his father was drawing an equal amount of attention as his quidditch star of a wife, though his was earned on the merits of his looks alone. The tall man was presently greeting Owen's little sister Sophie, who had just come home after her first term at Hogwarts and hopping impatiently up and down at Sophie's side was a girl identical to her, but on a slight delay. Owen's youngest sister Claire seemed deliriously happy to have her sister home and Leshia wondered at whether Owen exaggerated in his stories about the rivalry between the two girls. They seemed inseparable out there on the platform.

After a few moments Owen pulled free and looked this was and that to see if anyone he respected had caught sight of his mother's embarrassing greeting of him. Within seconds his eyes had sought out Leshia's and for a moment they stared at one another in a frozen silence. They hadn't spoken since that awful and awkward moment on the settee at Rachel's party where the young man had put his heart out on the line and Leshia had rejected him. For one horrible moment it looked as though the boy was about to turn his head and pretend he hadn't caught Leshia staring at him, but he adored her too much to act like in such a manner and instead cast her a charming grin, to which she giggled in response.

She didn't hesitate when he beckoned her over with his hand and left her parents' sides without a glance back. Before too long she'd crossed the platform to find Owen's parents watching her curiously and his little sisters nudging and whispering to one another. Leshia though had little concept of shame and merely smiled at them all confidently.

"Mum, dad," Owen was telling his parents. "This is Malfoy…uh, I mean this is Leshia. Leshia, my parents."

Lucy and Adam Gabriel exchanged a small smile before they inclined their heads towards their son's friend and nodded to the girl. She though extended her hand towards them boldly and after another exchanged smile Owen's parents shook her firm hand one by one.

"It's lovely to meet you at last Leshia," Mrs Gabriel announced charmingly. "Owen's told us so many lovely things about you."

The girl couldn't hide the smirk that jumped onto her pretty face and for a moment she looked to Owen amusedly.

"They're lying of course. I mean they couldn't tell you about the awful things I say about you could they?"

"Oh ha ha, you're so funny," the girl countered fondly. "You tell me awful things to my face, so it wouldn't matter would it?"

"Malfoy I'm shocked," the boy exclaimed amusedly and he pressed his hand to his chest. "Would I ever do such a thing?"

"All the time," she sniggered in return before she realised the young man's parents were still smiling at her.

"Owen's told us you're a seeker Leshia," Mrs Gabriel was continuing.

"Has he?"

"The best he's ever seen," Mr Gabriel added with a twinkling smile directed at his now embarrassed son.

"You should consider trying out for the England squad as soon as you're of age," Mrs Gabriel continued. "I have it on good authority that it won't be long before they'll be looking for a replacement for Joanne."

"What's happening to Tayler? She's really good."

"Yes, but between you and me, Joanne and her husband Andrew are going to be trying for a baby before too long." Mrs Gabriel tapped her nose and Leshia felt a flurry of excitement at being included in a secret involving such high-level quidditch players. Mrs Gabriel was continuing, "And from my experience Daos Daubman, the England manager, is always on the lookout for young blood."

"Oh now you've done it," Owen grumbled fondly when he saw Leshia's eyes glaze over in a private daydream that saw her being inaugurated onto the England team. "She'll never stop going on about it now. I'll bet…" But just what Owen had wanted to say froze in his throat and following his wide eyes Leshia saw why; her father was stalking towards them.

"Um I'd better go," Leshia quickly excused herself. She didn't want her father and the Gabriels to meet, though she couldn't explain why. "Have a great Christmas Owen," she added before throwing her arms roughly around the boy. "It was lovely meeting you Mr and Mrs Gabriel."

With this the girl retreated into the crowds before Owen's parents could even return her sentiments. She reached Draco somewhere in the middle and jumped past him making him turn round.

"Ashamed of your old man?" her father asked with a cold smile, but Leshia couldn't explain why she had felt the way she did and shook her head.

"No," she replied defensively. "Come on, are we going or not?"

"The Weasleys and the Potters are going over to Ron's for drinks," Draco informed the girl while she led him back to the others. "And we were wondering if you'd like us to join them."

"Yeah, of course!"

"We thought as much. You and I have to make a quick trip to the Ministry first though."

Though Leshia was about to ask why, she quickly understood. She hadn't had her daily visit with Tripper yet and the Eye on her hand was stinging more so than usual. She hadn't realised this was what happened when she delayed meeting with a Ministry official. Unsurprisingly, in the three weeks that had passed the girl hadn't been granted a reprieve, despite the best efforts of several powerful and high-ranking Witches and Wizards.

Leshia's meetings with Silas Tripper had been mild enough, but only due to her father's presence. She dreaded to think what the vile pockmarked man would do if her father hadn't won in his discussion with the Minister.

"Who's going to be my new warden then?" she asked wryly.

"I'm not sure yet. Usually this is a matter for the Auror Department, but who knows how things might have changed since I've been gone. They weren't in the habit of putting the Eye on children back then, but just look at how that turned out."

Leshia pretended not to feel afraid by her father's concerns, though inwardly she wavered a little. For her father to be unsure meant the times were very dangerous indeed. Draco Malfoy had only ever been a rock, a pillar of support, a fearless person to hide behind to his daughter. Her father was right, times were changing indeed if he was no longer able to represent all these things.

Hermione had waited while the others had gone ahead – no one was in doubt over which choice Leshia would make – and under an awkward silence the family made their fifteen-minute walk home. Leshia resisted conversation stubbornly and after a few attempts Hermione gave up. Once they had turned onto Dockstreet and were approaching the house though, the new mother tried one last attempt at extending the olive branch.

"I thought tomorrow we might go Christmas shopping darling. What do you say?" Leshia glanced at her mother and soon regretted it, as she caught sight of her sister playing with a strand of Hermione's thick long hair that had fallen down right into her chubby hand. The sight of the happy baby made her stomach tighten uncomfortably.

"Sure," she simply replied. She had not the energy to argue and was starting to get nervous about going to the ministry.

"Wonderful," a relieved Hermione exclaimed and she left the matter at that. Within no time they had reached the front door and Draco easily lifted his daughter's trunk up the steps and into the entrance hall.

"We'll meet you at Ron's," Draco informed his wife and he leaned in to kiss her quickly before he started guiding Leshia over to the hearth in the kitchen.

"Don't you want a drink before you go?"

"No time. They're expecting us."

"Oh, okay." Hermione looked very small and alone in the hall Draco thought to himself once he had indicated for Leshia to climb into the grate with a handful of floo powder. He tried to offer his wife a comforting smile before he turned on his daughter.

"What do I say?" she asked, her tone constricted with nerves.

"The Ministry of Magic." His daughter nodded and within moments she had thrown down her floo powder and given the order. In a swirl of green flames she was gone leaving Draco climbing into the grate in her wake.

"She's afraid Draco," Hermione called out before he could quite drop the floo powder in his hand. For a moment Draco faltered and then he nodded sadly.

"I know she is." With this he leaned back and dropped the powder. "The Ministry of Magic!"  
Leshia had visited the Ministry before, but it had been a very long time ago and she only a little girl. She remembered the Atrium though and stared in amazement at the high dark ceilings. All about her witches and wizards were jostling to get to where they were going. While she was staring with wide eyes at the gilded fireplaces the girl was helpless to resist the current and soon found herself directed towards the golden gleaming Fountain of the Brethren. Here the girl waited for her father, who thankfully found her within moments of appearing in the busy Atrium.

"Ready to go?" he asked his daughter once he reached her side. She nodded quickly and silently and pressed herself against Draco's arm while they walked. He spared her the embarrassment and said nothing of it while he led her towards the Golden Gates at the far side of the giant room. As usual Eric Much was manning the gates that led to the lifts and a small queue of visitors had lined up to have their wands registered before entering the Ministry. Draco steered Leshia towards the queue and they joined on the end of it. The girl was as stiff as a board and even flinched when the rather rotund lady waiting ahead of them burst out into rapturous laughter. Draco hesitated for a moment before he lifted the arm Leshia had pushed herself again and wrapped it round the girl's shoulders. She said nothing of it, but seemed to relax a little.

Leshia's attention was caught by the way people's eyes kept darting to her hand as they walked past and upon catching sight of the ghastly Eye every single one hurried on, a look of repulsion on their faces. Feeling ashamed Leshia stuck her hands deep in the pockets of her jeans and pushed her thoughts away from the niggling stinging pain in her right hand. All the fight had gone out of the youngster and she wished nothing more to be normal. How she envied Rachel and Katie, already safe in the warmth and cosiness of Rachel's house.

By the time she reached Eric Munch sat behind a desk bearing the small sign labelled _Security _she felt she would agree to anything and quickly obeyed when he asked her to show her wand. The man hadn't changed in all his days of working at the Ministry; still he wore deep blue robes, still he was badly shaven and still he had an impatient and bored manner about him. He seemed a peculiar man, but Leshia barely noticed. Her mind was too far away to analyse the Ministry Official or to notice the way his eyes travelled from Draco to his daughter and back again several times before he finally asked for her wand in as soft a tone as he could manage. Munch even averted his eyes from the Eye respectfully when he took the girl's wand from her and though Leshia didn't notice this her father did and he respected the man for it.

Munch placed Leshia's wand in a strange brass instrument standing atop the desk, which started vibrating and groaning the moment he did so. Within seconds a slip of paper shot out of the side of it, which Munch picked up and glanced at,

"Eleven inches, dragon heartstring core, been in use three years three months? That right?" Draco could see Leshia hadn't listened to a word the security wizard had spoken and so he squeezed her shoulders.

"Hmm?" the girl uttered, looking down at Munch with wide frightened eyes. He repeated himself. "Oh yeah, that's right."

Munch nodded to himself and impaled the slip of parchment on a small brass spike already carrying dozens such slips along its length. He handed Leshia's wand back to her with a small nod, but Leshia had switched off again and merely took it and pushed it back in her pocket.

"She'll need a badge Draco," Munch next spoke. Draco sighed and rubbed the back of his head, but nodded all the same.

"Right and where do we get one of those."

"Over here." Munch wheeled his chair across to the other side of his desk where a strange brown box with a peculiar funnel like device stood on top of it. He looked directly at Leshia. "Speak your name into this love."

This time Leshia had listened and did as she was told. The machine gave a strange clunking noise before it churned out a silver badge that Munch inspected before handing to the girl.

"That ought to last you every day," he explained to her. Leshia took it and glanced down at the silver badge, which had _Alecia Malfoy_ written above an engraving of an eye identical to the Eye on her hand. Grimly she attached it to her coat feeling this dratted symbol would haunt her for the rest of her life.

"Thank you Eric," Draco spoke to the man behind the desk, before he guided Leshia back into the steady traffic heading through the golden gates. The steady stream of traffic was diverging into smaller streams that were lining up outside the twenty lifts lined up behind golden grilles. Wanting to spare his daughter the attention she was receiving, Draco led her towards the furthest least crowded queue and shielded her from the prying eyes with his tall figure.

Thankfully a lift descended in front of them moment later to a cacophony of jangling and clunking. Draco led Leshia in by wrapping his arm round her once more and they made their way into the furthest corner of the lift. A man that evidently recognised and knew Draco was pushing his way through the crowds towards them.

"Draco!" the jovial Irishman called out. Leshia thought him to have a kind face, if not slightly rogue-like. He seemed like fun.

"Aaron," Draco greeted in return and despite the gravity of his mood he managed a smile.

"Haven't seen you about these parts in donkeys years mate, what brings you…" The man known as Aaron fell quiet because his eyes now caught sight of the small blonde character tucked into the crook of Draco's eyes. "That's never little Leshia is it? She's enormous!"

"Well not quite."

"Last time I saw you, you could fit in my pocket I swear it," Aaron told the teenager with a broad genuine smile. Leshia couldn't help but smile. "What…" Again the Irishman fell silent, his eyes had now fallen on the badge Leshia wore and his expression had turned fierce. "You've got to be bleeding kidding! They've…but she's…the Eye?" He seemed too angry for coherent and complete sentences.

"I know," Draco sighed. The witches and wizards standing near them in the lift started edging away from the enraged Irishman and several were quite glad when the lift came a halt accompanied by a strange mechanical woman's voice reading out the floor level so that they could get as far from Aaron as possible. Aaron O'Hare was widely renowned for having a fiery temperament.

"I can't believe it mate, I just can't believe it," Draco's friend was saying through several shakes of his head. His concerned brown eyes fell on Leshia's face and she shrunk back a little. "This place is heading for the dumps, if it's not one thing, it's another."

By now the lift had reached the sixth floor, Aaron's level, but he seemed reluctant to get out. Before he did so he fixed Leshia with a firm look that spoke a thousand words of encouragement and sympathy before the Irishman left the lift in a flurry of angry profanities. Once more the lift doors sealed and Leshia glanced up at her father.

"Old friend," he told her fondly. "A little too fond of the drink."

Leshia smiled faintly, but then looked down once more. She stayed this way until the lift had finally brought them to Level Two, the department of Magical Law Enforcement, home of the Auror Department. Draco guided Leshia out onto a corridor lined with doors and windows showing the darkening sky outside. Leshia wrinkled her brow, but soon remembered being told as a child that they were still underground and that the windows had been enchanted to show the outside world for the benefit of the Ministry Workers.

Draco led the way towards the heavy oak doors that led into the Auror Headquarters. He clamped his arm tighter around Leshia's shoulder before he pushed hard into the door, opening it onto his chaotic former office. The Auror Headquarters consisted of a large open area filled with cubicles. Leshia kept her head down while her father guided her along the rows upon rows of cubicles, very aware that as they passed everyone was turning to stare. Draco greeted several of the Aurors having worked with many of them and he was glad to see the sympathy in their faces. It seemed no one had agreed with the Minister's actions where Leshia's branding was concerned.

Finally Draco had reached a door at the end of the open office, which had a rusted metal plate screwed onto it bearing the words, _Storik Broadsword, Minister of Aurors_. Draco glanced briefly down at Leshia, who was reading the sign warily, before he knocked firmly on the door. A few moments passed before it swung open revealing the haphazard office of the Minister of Aurors. Posters of wanted criminals lined the walls, lining every inch of mud-brown wall. They were largely covered though by crooked and over packed filing cabinets. Strange and dangerous gadgets littered every available surface, jostling for space with mountains of paperwork.

Leshia stared and stared, but soon found herself jolted back to the present when her eyes fell on a picture of her own face. The experience was quite jarring and the fifteen-year-old girl had to do a double take in order to take in what she had seen. Above her face were the pictures of ferocious and unclean looking felons and all of them had an enormous Eye glittering over the surface of the image. Having seen quite enough the girl turned her attention on the Minister of Aurors himself. Storik Broadsword was an enormous man. His Viking heritage was evidently still very much alive inside the flame haired, grisly bearded, fierce looking man.

Broadsword was sitting behind his desk, which seemed surprisingly well kept in comparison to his tip of an office, but when he caught sight of Draco and his frightened child he stood to his feet. Leshia was thankful to see that though the Minister was an enormous man, Draco still towered over him. She felt suddenly very safe beside her strong father.

"Draco," Broadsword called out familiarly; he had once worked alongside Draco when they were both Aurors and later when Draco took his 'desk job' he had become the younger man's boss when he took the position of Minister of Aurors. He respected Draco Malfoy immensely and hadn't bought into the Minister of Magic's fear mongering. This attitude was prevalent amongst all those who had trusted their lives to the blond man earlier in their careers. Trust in someone who had proven their worth was a difficult thing to lose.

"Minister Broadsword…"

"Storik if you don't mind," the Viking man countered Draco with a firm smile. "We are friends first Draco, you know that. Come in, come in." Obediently the blond man led his daughter towards two of the chairs sat before Broadsword's desk. Leshia shrunk into hers like a small child. "You're looking older Draco I'm happy to say."

"Really?" Draco managed through a laugh. He had always liked Storik Broadsword and respected the man immensely. "Why?"

"No longer so damn handsome of course." A louder laugh escaped the still very attractive man sat in the chair in front of the desk. "Your father couldn't step into a room back in his day without every woman falling at his feet young Leshia. You should be happy things have changed."

Leshia smothered a giggle and nodded coolly. Had she been at ease then she might have revealed that really things hadn't changed, as all her peers at school fancied her father something rotten, but she didn't feel at ease, so she stayed silent.

"Right then, I see, straight to business," Broadsword exclaimed suddenly and he clapped his hands down on his knees. He had always been an intuitive man, very good at reading people. "Can't blame you of course. Nasty business this whole thing!"

"Is there nothing you can do Storik?" Draco asked soberly. The grisly man behind the desk scratched his beard for a moment before he sighed heavily making his whole body shudder. Leshia was sure the she felt the floor reverberating along with him.

"Minister Crayik holds the ultimate authority on these matters Draco, you know that. I want you to know though…" Broadsword paused and looked into Leshia's hurt eyes. They struck a blow to him and he hung his head ashamedly. "I fought your corner. I fought hard, but there's those who have got right up close to the Minister and are whispering in his ear every step of the way. Things aren't the way they used to be Draco. Crayik's afraid of something big, something he isn't sharing with the rest of us. Now we have an idea about what it might be, but…" Again the Minister's eyes drifted towards Leshia and he paused. "But that's a conversation best saved for another day. Now then, these daily visits."

Broadsword leaned back in his chair and it groaned so much in protest that Leshia was sure it was about to break through the floor.

"I see no reason why you should have to make the journey in every day. How would you feel about home visits?"

"That would be the ideal solution, if it wasn't too much trouble," Draco replied quickly.

"No trouble at all my boy. You're one of our own, nothing's too much trouble!"

"Thank you Storik." Leshia thought she had rarely heard her father sound so sincere and thankful in her life.

"Have you any preference to who I should assign your daughter's case to. I had Sabine Hirsh in mind, but if you'd rather…"

"Sabine would be an excellent choice," Draco interrupted his former boss. Sabine Hirsh was an ageing Auror who had maintained such a level of kindness and softness she was seen unofficially as the departmental mother. There was no better choice in Draco's eyes. Broadsword was trying to make this as easy as possible for his daughter and once more he swelled with gratitude.

"Excellent, then it is agreed." Again Broadsword clapped his hands down on his knees, before he looked to Leshia for a moment. "Right then onto today's business Miss Leshia. Have you been up to any dark or suspicious activities since your meeting with Silas Tripper yesterday afternoon?"

The girl's eyes went wide at the sudden question, but quickly she shook her head.

"No sir," she assured him honestly, pulling a broad smile onto Broadsword's face.

"Jolly good. That'll do for me. You're free to go, I'm sure you have better things to be doing so close to Christmas." Broadsword was climbing to his feet and quickly Draco followed. As though she were attached by an invisible string Leshia rose too, though she felt more at ease now and no longer attached herself to Draco's side. It strengthened her to know that people like Minister Broadsword and Aaron O'Hare were on her side, not to mention all those sympathetic Aurors.

The girl missed the words being spoken between her father and the Minister of Aurors, but soon the grisly man was extending an enormous calloused and scarred hand in her direction. She reached out and shook it. It was like shaking hands with a rock.

"Keep your chin up Miss Leshia, we've heard all about you, you'll get through this and be better for it when you do." These hearty words of encouragement Leshia carried with her and took strength from them on the way out. Draco could see the transformation in the girl and he hid his proud smile to save her the embarrassment. On their way past the security desk Leshia handed in the silver badge Eric Munch had given her. He raised his eyebrows as though to speak, but before he could do so Leshia cut him off.

"I won't be needing it thanks," she told him boldly, before she strode off towards the row of gilded exit fireplaces with Draco hot on her heels. They transported to Ron's living room with ease to find Hermione sitting upright in an armchair seemingly very nervous, while Harry, Ginny and Ron relaxed with a bottle of wine nearby. The sound of music and children's voices wafted in from the rest of the house. In a quiet corner Evie was sleeping soundly in a rocker Ron had fished out of the cupboard under the stairs.

The moment Leshia appeared Hermione leapt to her feet and rushed over to the girl.

"How did it go?" Leshia shrugged her shoulders noncommittally.

"Alright. The Minister of Aurors was really nice, he said I could have someone called Sabine something-something visit me at home every day."

Hermione let out the sigh of relief she hadn't realised she had been holding and hugged her daughter firmly.

"Oh thank goodness."

In a swirl of green flames Draco appeared to find Leshia still wrapped in the arms of her mother and he smiled at the expression on his wife's face.

"Still in one piece," he chuckled. "I told you not to worry."

"Oh be quiet, you were worse," Hermione complained and she pulled back with a smile. Leshia's eyes were drifting towards the sound of music wafting down from upstairs. "Yes go on, be off with you. Katie and Rachel have been down every few minutes to see if you were back yet."

"Thanks," Leshia offered with a big grin, before she darted from the room and up the stairs in a clatter of noise. Hermione laughed stupidly, relishing in the sensation of her nerves relaxing.

"It speaks! My goodness. One trip to the Ministry and she's actually talking now."

"Draco," Ron called out to the blond man, who was shrugging off his long black coat and draping it over a chair in the corner. "Fancy a whiskey?"

The new arrival could see the hopeful expressions on Harry and Ron's faces and after glancing to the coffee table could see Ron had already laid out three tumblers and a bottle of the finest whiskey he could find at the Muggle supermarket. He suppressed a mocking laugh at their inability to drink the stuff without him and instead nodded.

"That's just what I need right now, thank you."

"Oh God, don't start on that now, we haven't even had dinner yet," Ginny groaned fondly, but the men didn't heed her and before too long the five old friends had settled into the swing of things. While upstairs their children were doing the same. It was easy to forget about all the problems the term had wrought in Ronald Weasley's cosy detached home in a lovely Winchester estate. For the briefest of times, everything was well in the world and everyone felt better for it.

XXX

Christmas Eve fell the very next day and while Leshia shopped for presents with her mother, first on the muggle high street and then down Diagon Alley she couldn't help but keep her eyes open for signs of Lucius. Away from the house and away from her sister Leshia managed to act quite agreeably for once leaving her mother reeling with happiness.

The traditional Christmas Eve get together was being held at Potter Manor and before too long the Malfoys had apparated to the grand country estate bringing gifts and platters of food. Much fun followed and things seemed to be running smoothly. Before too long the night of festivities had finished leaving the Malfoys to apparate home. Leshia stole a glance at the presents under the tree before she rushed up to bed and felt suddenly at peace with herself. Coming home had been painless thus far and as she curled up to go to sleep she wondered what she had been so worried about.

Come three in the morning, when the girl had only been sleeping two hours or so, she suddenly remembered why she had so dreaded coming home and it all came flooding back to her when a piercing cry erupted in the room next door. Leshia's eyes snapped open and she glanced briefly to the wall that separated her from her wailing little sister. Indescribably her blood boiled and she narrowed her eyes.

"Oh bugger off," she cursed bitterly. "You're ruining Christmas."

Quite suddenly the wailing stopped and Leshia's eyes went wide. She held her breath and waited. Ten seconds. Thirty. A whole minute went by and still no sound came from the nursery next door. Suddenly terrified Leshia sat up straight in bed and fumbled for the switch on her bedside light. Once she had found it she paused and listened out, but no sound came from the baby's room.

"What have I done?" she whispered hoarsely. Jerkily she climbed to her feet and hurried over to her door, which she wrenched open and tumbled out onto the dark landing. Evie's door was ajar, but no sounds came from within the slightly lit room. Swallowing away a wave of fear Leshia pushed the door open and walked into the room. She didn't realise that she was holding her breath again, as she walked over to the cot in the corner of the room. Hoping beyond hope she hadn't unwittingly done something to her sister the girl peered over the wooden railing and suddenly let out an enormous sigh of relief when she saw her kicking and struggling sister, though she soon retracted that relief when she saw how sickly the baby looked.

"Are you okay?" she asked her sister almost accusingly. A soft strangled whimper escaped the infant and Leshia bit her lip. Obviously her sister was unwell. "Well what's the matter with you?"

Evie was trying to cry, but she couldn't get the sound out. Leshia stood backwards out of sight of the baby, which made Evie struggle more. She seemed so pathetic that Leshia stepped into view again.

"Look I don't know what to do. I'll go get mum." But as she stepped away Evie seemed to panic and strange noises erupted from her throat. She was trying to wail, but all she was managing to do was make herself choke. "Okay, okay, I'm not going anywhere. I'll just…um…mum! Mum!"

But Leshia didn't know her parents had never made it upstairs. They had enjoyed the Christmas party perhaps a little too much and had never made it past the sitting room, where they had collapsed in each other's arms in front of the fire and the Christmas tree in an alcohol induced stupor that no manner or noise could rouse them from. Leshia continued with her futile calling out a little longer until she realised it wasn't working.

"Crap," she grumbled and then looked down at her distraught sister. She couldn't remember ever having touched the baby and paused for a moment, her hands over the cot, but what else could she do? She couldn't just let the baby choke herself to death could she? "I don't want that on my conscience on top of everything else that's going on. I hope you know that's the only reason I'm doing this," Leshia told her sister angrily, before she reached down and clamped her hands around the unnaturally hot baby. Evie was surprisingly heavy and Leshia had to exert more force to lift her than she'd bargained on. Finally she had the baby out of the cot and fumbled for a moment to get a good hold on her sister.

"Would you stop squirming? You'll make me drop you!" she told the baby grumpily before she finally settled her in an over the shoulder hold that seemed to suit them both. Armed now with her sick little sister Leshia slowly made her way onto the landing again and made straight for her parents' room. She was a little annoyed to find it empty and the bed not slept in.

"Where are they?" she muttered in an undertone, but was highly relieved to hear that Evie had found her lungs again after being held upright.

Ever so carefully Leshia descended the stairs, making sure she avoided the loose plank midway down. After a terrifying moment where she nearly lost her balance after Evie made a furious squirm to express her annoyance at being ill Leshia managed to find the cool slate tiles of the hall. She glanced about in the dark before her eyes settled on the telltale top of a shorn blond head.

"Dad!" she called out crossly. She could hear him snoring and marched round clasping Evie firmly to her shoulder. Her parents seemed to have passed out and Leshia felt her blood boil. "Is this what you call responsible parenting?"

Angrily she kicked the settee they had collapsed on and the combination of her shrill demand, Evie's wailing and the shuddering settee roused both Draco and Hermione from their stupor. Within seconds they were both on their feet. The sight of their oldest daughter holding their youngest was the most bizarre thing either had ever seen.

"Leshia," Draco started croakily, but the teenager had no patience and stamped her foot.

"She's sick. Take her!" As though the baby were radioactive Leshia held her out at arm's length only to have her quickly taken from her hands by their concerned mother. Hermione rushed Evie out of the room without so much as a glance at Leshia, which stung the blonde girl deeply. Tears prickled in her eyes and she turned to go, only to find a firm hand clamped around the top of her arm.

"Leshia don't…"

"Just leave me alone!" Leshia cried out miserably and she brought her other hand up to squeeze the corners of her eyes tightly.

"Please just…"

"Leave me _alone_." The girl wrenched her arm free and ran from the room. Thankfully Hermione had soothed the blockage in Evie's lungs with a potion and the baby was now freely wailing away her unhappiness, which covered the soft cries that escaped her older sister as she darted back up the stairs and slammed her door. Feeling pathetic and alone Leshia slid down her door and thumped herself back into it several times.

"Why. Doesn't. She. Love. Me. Anymore?" she managed through her sobs, before speech failed her altogether and she hugged her knees close. She rocked to and fro, hugging her tiny body for any scrap of comfort, but found none. Leshia Malfoy felt alone in the world and to make matters worse, the cruel Eye seared into the flesh of her right hand was ablaze.

XXX

Please review


	8. Part Eight

**Generations: Rebel Inside**

**Part Eight**

_Owen,_

_ I hate it here! I hate her! I'm sorry, I don't mean to make your Christmas as miserable as mine, but I needed to confide in someone and your face just won't get out my head, so just deal with it. I can't even think straight. I haven't even been to sleep, because every time I try I have bad dreams. I can't even really tell you about what's happened, except that my mum just doesn't love me anymore. She's made that clear and I think…oh I just don't know how to say it…well I think her and my dad, I don't think they're doing so well either. I heard them fighting for hours till they finally went to bed. They were both a bit drunk, but still…and what's worse is they were fighting about me. _

_ I wish we were back at school. I miss Gryffindor Tower. I miss Katie and Rachel. And I miss you. I need your sense of humour right now, I really do. And I __am__ sorry that I'm lumbering you with this letter on Christmas Day, but like I said, I really need you right now._

_ Sorry if this doesn't make any sense. I'm exhausted, but I'm afraid of what'll happen if I close my eyes. Can't you make this all go away?_

_ Oh yeah, Happy Christmas._

_ Leshia_

_ PS Sorry it's not a card_

Leshia stared at the messy letter through sore tired eyes and nodded to herself. It would have to do. She wasn't going to rewrite it a third time. With a resolute sigh she tied the letter to the leg of Auralia, the Malfoys' family owl, and whispered for her to bring it to Owen Gabriel through a hoarse and sore throat. She had spoken the truth in her letter of course and had lay for hours too frightened to move at the argument that was roaring between her parents down below.

Draco had been so angry with his wife for her ignoring their older daughter and the damage it had done and Hermione had been equally furious that he hadn't seemed to care that Evie was ill because he'd been too concerned over Leshia. To Leshia the message was clear, 'Dad loves me, mum doesn't.'

This was of course an unfair judgement for the girl to make, for she could not know how much and how passionately her parents loved both their daughters. Hermione was a mother and programmed by instincts. A sick baby was enough to disable all her other concerns and priorities and she had of course not meant to snub Leshia, especially when the girl had acted so out of character and actually carried her sister to her parents. Had Evie not seemed so poorly, or had Hermione perhaps not been so drunk she would have showered praise and love on her eldest child for so selfless an act.

It was also very unfair to claim that Draco didn't care for the baby in equal measure to how he cared for his older daughter, but he had no maternal instincts. He saw only a baby that was unwell and likely to recover very quickly, whereas in his older daughter he had seen her very soul aching and hurting. He knew Leshia's every expression, her every movement and could see the great sacrifice she had made to put her own feelings aside to help her sister. He had wanted to wrap his arms around her for that, but Hermione's actions had made that impossible and he felt resentful of his wife that she had jeopardised his close relationship with his daughter.

All in all Christmas morning was a morbid occasion in the Malfoy House. Hermione had so wanted Evie's first Christmas to be perfect and she had gone out of her way to make it so, but now everything was ruined.

After Auralia had taken off into the sky Leshia exhaled heavily and retreated into her room, away from the cold morning air. It was still frightfully early and the sun hadn't quite risen, but she couldn't stay cooped up upstairs much longer. Tiredly she wrapped her fluffy white dressing gown round herself and pulled on her fluffy dog-head slippers before she opened her door to a crack. The landing was silent and with a small flutter of relief in her chest she crept out and down the stairs, artfully avoiding the creaking planks.

When she reached the hall she realised someone was awake. It was too late to return to bed and so after setting her face in a defiant expression she strode towards the kitchen to find her father marking essays at the kitchen table. He stopped hesitantly when Leshia walked in and stood inches from the table. Her face was blotchy and tear stained and her poor eyes puffy from tiredness. Not a word passed between them and feeling a torrent of emotion she thought she had pushed away Leshia walked over to her father and hugged him. She knew he loved her. She knew that much. They had been happy together, just the two of them, for a long time before Hermione returned and even though it stung so deeply to think her mother no longer loved her, at least she still had her dad.

Draco returned her embrace powerfully, as though he thought this to be their last ever hug. She seemed so small just then and he rubbed her back slowly thanking whatever grace had brought her back to him at last, for he knew that where he was concerned at least, Leshia had forgiven him and was ready to return to their old way.

"Did you get any sleep?" he asked her at last, when he was sure he was able to control the emotion in his voice.

"Not really," she sniffed. "Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas sweetheart." They waited several more moments and Leshia still clung to her father. He didn't mind, but worried for his daughter. He wanted to see her face, and read her thoughts from her expression. "You letting go any time soon?"

"No," she mumbled simply and then she smiled sorely when her father's laughter reverberated through her own chest. She had missed that. But she did let go and she wiped at her eyes to brush away the tears that hadn't stopped leaking out of them since she had witnessed her mother's dismissal of her. Her eyes spoke what she could not; they were asking for forgiveness, forgiveness for acting so horribly towards her father these last few months when in truth he had loved her all along. He had never stopped loving her and Leshia knew that now.

"Don't," Draco told her quickly and he reached out to hold her hand. He squeezed it comfortingly and though he didn't say another word, Leshia knew what he meant and she managed a shaky smile. No more needed to be said on the matter, they knew each other too well and everything that had needed to be said and done had been said and done.

Leshia dropped down into the chair close to her father's side. While she glanced at the first year essays he was marking she reached out and lifted a piece of cold toast he had abandoned several hours ago. It was both stale and soggy, but she nibbled on it to satisfy the painful hunger in her stomach.

"Are we going over to the Burrow later on?" Draco stretched out his arms behind his head, still feeling far too happy with himself, but eventually he nodded.

"Grandma Weasley would never let us get out of it," he replied while stifling a yawn. Leshia nodded slowly, before she turned two mischievous eyes on her father.

"Can we open the presents?" Draco laughed and shook his head.

"You know we can't."

"Oh please! Just one, I'll pick a really small one."

"Out of the question, your mother would kill me," Draco complained and he noticed that the unease he felt at mentioning Hermione was mirrored in Leshia's face. "Why don't you help me mark these eh?"

"Me? Help you mark essays?" Leshia's eyes gleamed impishly with this invitation to take on such an important task.

"I don't see why not, you did quite well in your first year if I remember rightly."

"Dad I did get an O," the girl scoffed amusingly, both making fun of herself, but also making a point.

"Oh of course. How could I forget? So you're an expert are you?"

"Yeah!" she replied obviously.

"All right then, let's put you to the test. Read through that and tell me where this poor sod's gone wrong." Draco dropped a messy essay down in front of his daughter and after giving him a superior smile letting him know she accepted his challenge she turned on the first year's work. She threw herself into this task whole-heartedly, very happy for something to do after a horrific night and though in the beginning she was very astute and pointed out all the errors Draco himself had picked up on after only ten minutes or so her mind started wandering. Before too long she had leant her chin in her folded arms on the table and was moments away from drifting off while she tried to finish the essay.

"Sweetheart why don't you go to bed for a few hours," Draco suggested, his smile a warm one full of affection for the sleepy girl.

"I'm going…" A massive yawn wracked the teenager and she struggled to keep her eyes open. "To finish it." On she ploughed, until she reached the very last sentence. With a triumphant smile she pushed the essay across the table towards her father and then rested her cheek on her arms. Before Draco had the time to look up she was already asleep. He considered nudging her awake and sending her up to bed, but she seemed so peaceful and he was still relishing in her close proximity. So he left her to dream at the kitchen table, while he carried on his work with a smile nothing could tear from his face.

Two hours passed at least, until finally the silence was broken by soft footsteps on the stairs. Moments later Hermione appeared in a similar state to the way Leshia had entered the room. Despite their fight Draco's heart hurt to see his dear wife so downtrodden.

"Happy Christmas," she whispered miserably, her eyes welling up with tears when they fell on Leshia's sleeping form. She knew what this meant. She knew Leshia had made up with her father and she felt suddenly jealous and childish.

'Why should it surprise you?' a soft cruel thought popped into her head. 'She's always loved him more…' Hermione shook her head jerkily to shake the feelings away.

"Happy Christmas," her husband replied softly and before he allowed his wife to speak he extended the olive branch, "I'm sorry about last night. I'm just so sorry."

For a moment Hermione looked as though he had struck her, but then her face crumpled and she nodded quickly.

"Me too! I'm just so sorry for everything." Within an instant she had crossed the kitchen to where Draco had risen to his feet and they embraced. Draco kissed his wife's face over and over, wishing to erase the cruel things they had said to one another and she pressed herself into him as firmly as she could to forge their union anew and make them one again.

"How is she?" Hermione whispered once they had reaffirmed their love for one another.

"Hurt," her husband replied. "And exhausted."

"She looks so peaceful when she's asleep." Hermione had now pulled away from Draco and with a tearful expression she sat down in the chair he'd vacated in order to lean in and stroke Leshia's curls from her face. "Has she…I mean are you two…"

Draco hung his head and nodded; he didn't want to use Leshia's forgiving him as a weapon against his wife and couldn't meet her eyes when the small agonised sound escaped her. Hermione though, was nodding her head.

"I suppose it's what I deserve," she whispered turbulently.

"Don't talk like that…"

"But I do Draco. I don't show her. I can tell her till the cows come home, but unless I show her she'll never know how much she means to me…how much this is killing me." Tears were streaming down his wife's face and Draco moved to envelop her in his arms from behind.

"It'll take time," he spoke quietly into the back of her head. "But she will come around. Trust me. Please." Hermione sniffed loudly and she nodded, but then froze as Leshia stirred in her sleep. Both she and Draco watched as the girl settled once more and waited till her breathing became heavy before they spoke once more.

"It's still early, you should send her up to bed for a few hours sleep. We're not expected at the Burrow till twelve."

"We should all get some more sleep. You head up, I'll be there in a few minutes." Hermione nodded shakily, but climbed to her feet all the same. She paused on the stairs and listened while her husband woke their eldest daughter and the envious ripple returned. Before she could be caught though she returned to her room and lay in bed waiting for her husband. His heavy footsteps were accompanied by lighter shuffling ones and she listened keenly to the short conversation they held on the landing. It was too muffled though and she didn't understand a word of it. Before too long Draco was climbing into bed and the moment he did so she latched onto his side. He wrapped two strong and solid arms about her and so they slept, trying to forget what had been said, but knowing they never really could.

XXX

When the family awoke again they celebrated Christmas. It was a subdued affair, not at all what Hermione had envisaged for her baby's first Christmas. Compounding the poor woman's misery was the way in which Leshia acted with her father. Though six months had passed she was amazed by how easily the girl and her father could forget all that had transpired and act as though nothing had happened. They were inseparable once more and so in tune with one another it made her head swim. The only comfort she could offer herself was to indulge in Evie's loveliness and so she doted on the baby. It was a Christmas of two families really: Leshia and her father and Hermione and her baby.

Thankfully they didn't have long to dwell on this sorry state of affairs, as shortly before twelve Sabine Hirsch dropped by unannounced looking overly excited and a bit tipsy. The old and lovely woman had been in the middle of her own Christmas celebrations. Leshia had to smile in the presence of the jovial woman and after merely looking at the innocent and happy young girl and dutifully asking whether she had been engaged in any dark activity Sabine nodded to herself and wished them all a Happy Christmas, before she flooed away once more.

The Malfoys were due at the Burrow and so quickly they all changed and met once more at the hearth in the kitchen. Within no time they had flooed across to the Weasley base where all the children and grandchildren had already turned the place upside down. The Malfoys were a welcomed addition and became inundated with gifts and embraces the moment they appeared in the busy kitchen. Leshia was whisked away by an excitable Rachel and led all the way up to her father's once room, which was still decorated from floor to ceiling in Chudley Cannons posters and paraphernalia.

"You're looking really…swollen," Rachel exclaimed mid-story. She had been talking about the fantastic gift her father had got for all his children when she suddenly realised Leshia's appearance. "Are you sick?"

"Hey, she's right you know, you're eyes are double the size," Katie agreed. The raven-haired girl had waited up in Ron's old room while Rachel had been sent on a mission to find Leshia. Secretly she had been trying to fit in some homework, but she had masqueraded this under the claim that she'd been reading a magazine. Rachel of course believed not a word of it, but who was she to complain if it meant Katie wasn't on at her to do some homework as well?

Leshia glanced from one friend to the next, before she buckled under their sympathetic expressions and told them the whole story. She had intended to at least wait till after Christmas to explain her horrific Christmas morning, but now she'd started she found she couldn't stop and the whole sordid affair came tumbling out. When she was done her best friends seemed shocked.

"Wow, that sounds rough," Rachel finally grimaced.

"But you and your dad," Katie quickly added. "You're back to normal again right?"

"Yeah," Leshia shrugged and a bright smile pulled onto her face despite her attempts to stop it. "I knew I missed him, but I never realised just how much, till now."

"Well don't you miss your mum in the same way?" Rachel glared at Katie; hadn't her bespectacled cousin heard the whole story?

"Of course I do, but she's made her choice hasn't she?"

"I don't think it's that simple…"

Thankfully the girls couldn't quite get into their discussion because quite suddenly a tapping sound at the window drew their attention. They all turned to see that the source of the noise was a large barn owl.

"Auralia!" Leshia exclaimed and she rolled off the bed and ran to open the window. The Malfoy owl had returned with a letter and had known to find Leshia at the Burrow. Thanking the owl profusely Leshia took the letter from her and then dropped onto the floor in front of the bed. It was from Owen and had been written hurriedly:

_Leshia,_

_ Happy Christmas to you too. Way to ruin Christmas Morning! I'm just kidding. You've got me pretty worried though. I hope you're still hanging in there. I'm sure it's not as bad as you're making it out to be. You do tend to blow things way out of proportion. Are you smiling yet?_

_ In all seriousness though, I would come rescue you this very moment, but there's the slight problem of my fearsome dragon of a granny. She comes round every Christmas see, and if I bunked off to come rescue my fair maiden she'd take great pleasure in tearing my hair out when she caught me. She's deceptive and hides behind this frail old lady disguise, but really she's the meanest old boot you ever met! _

_ How's tomorrow though? I could meet you at the Cauldron say ten-ish? You can pour your heart out to me then._

_ I hope you're sorting things out. Don't you know it's Christmas? You're meant to be happy on Christmas. I can't stand to think of you upset on today, of all days. If you still need me to come rescue you don't let my granny scare you, I mean she __is__ pretty scary, but if you really need me I'll trap her in a tower (our downstairs loo) and come fetch you. I'm pretty sure we'd make it back before she'd figured out how to switch the light on._

_ Owen_

_ PS Don't take any crap Malfoy, from anyone_

Leshia reread the letter twice before she turfed it over for her friends to digest. They were giggling by the end of it and chanting all sorts of silly things about how Owen and Leshia were going to end up up a tree and get married and have a baby's carriage, but Leshia didn't heed them. Instead she borrowed an ancient scrap of parchment from Ron's old desk and scribbled on it in pencil, _Emergency temporarily diverted, see you tomorrow_ _at ten _and a small thank you before she sent the letter on its way with an indignant Auralia. Whether or not owls had any concept of Christmas was doubtful, but she was very aware she had just flown two long journeys in a row and wanted a rest.

Leshia watched the owl go with a dubious frown; what was going to become of her slip of parchment? If she were an owl she'd delight at finding as many possible ways to destroy letters, particularly if she wasn't being appreciated. Thankfully though Leshia wasn't an owl and Auralia would deliver the letter good and true, though she would dart away before the recipient could send a reply.

"So are you going to go see him tomorrow?" Katie asked, her expression mischievous and far from the subtlety she was renowned for.

"Yeah, I don't see why not."

"Are you going to get with him again?" Rachel now asked plainly; she wasn't in the mood for pretending to be tactful.

"Rachel!"

"Well you're no better Katie. So, are you?" Their curious eyes turned on Leshia, who joined them on the bed again, before she shrugged.

"I don't know. I still don't think I like him _that_ way, but I know I can trust him. I know he'll set me straight."

"Well that's what we're for isn't it?" Rachel asked, sounding a little put out. Leshia rolled her eyes and reached out to ruffle her best friend's hair.

"Yes and that's why I'm sat here telling you all about it. It's just Owen's got another way of looking at things and sometimes it's good to get two different opinions, that's all."

"If you had to pick someone to be your boyfriend right now, you know out of all your friends, who would you pick?" Katie asked with a crafty smile on her pretty face; she was looking at both her friends. Leshia and Rachel withdrew expressing reluctant utterances and refusing to play the game, but Katie fixed them with a firm expression and they knew they'd never hear the end of it unless they gave a response.

"Okay Leesh you go first," Rachel grumbled.

"Well. It's a stupid question, because I wouldn't want to go out with any of them at the moment, but…"

"Come on, if you _had_ to choose one, who would it be?"

Two faces had forced their way into Leshia's mind and as she sized Rodeo up against Owen she just couldn't decide which one she liked more. Owen was a laugh and he was charming and he'd always been there for her since the moment they had met, but Rodeo was beautiful and she'd known him the longest and before he turned strange he'd been Leshia's biggest crush. With Rodeo's turning back into normal again and Owen's persistence in trying to woo her she just didn't know where her heart lay.

But Katie was giving her a heavy look and she knew she'd have to pick one.

"Owen I guess," she finally uttered. As though this was the answer Katie had been waiting for she pressed her hands together and squealed delightedly.

"I knew it!"

"Oh shove off," Leshia grumbled with a smile. "Who would you pick then if you're so clever?"

The blonde girl instantly regretted her question, because she already knew the answer. Somehow, indescribably, she felt jealous and she wished she could have answered Rodeo instead.

"It would have to be Rodeo," Katie replied, feigning a thoughtful expression. Leshia knew her real reason for asking the question had been to reveal her liking Rodeo again and she felt hoodwinked and stupid. "Rachel, your turn."

The redhead was scrunching up her face and picking at a feather protruding from the duvet they were sitting on. She had planned to say someone revolting like Smelly Henry, but when she saw how serious her friends had taken the question she suddenly felt like revealing her true answer also. There was only one name that sprung to mind.

"I'd go with Parys I think," she finally replied. Leshia and Katie didn't seem surprised.

"Yeah I can see you two together," Katie merely said. Rachel stared at her friends nonplussed.

"Excuse me? Aren't you two in the least bit surprised? I mean you could pretend for my sake!"

"What?" Leshia laughed. "We've known all along that you fancy Parys."

"I do _not_ fancy him," Rachel complained fiercely. "Would you say you fancy Owen?" Leshia opened and closed her mouth and then shrugged her shoulders.

"Well that's different. It's complicated." Leshia and Katie rolled about laughing at the tirade Rachel burst into, but they could see they'd struck a nerve and they soon stopped and changed the topic of conversation to something all together more benign: what they had got for Christmas.

By the time they were being hailed downstairs their moods had been set to rights and they filed downstairs with the throng of other Weasley grandkids who'd been taking refuge in the other bedrooms lest they be roped into laying the table or helping in the kitchen. The table had been magically extended to fit the dozens of family members and guests around it and to the youngsters' dismay name cards had been affixed to hovering baubles above each place setting preventing them from forming a gang with their particular favourite cousins and ignoring everyone else. Thankfully Leshia found herself sat in between her best friends. Opposite sat her father, but next to him sat her mother with baby Evie – much recovered – in a baby seat right at her side. Leshia couldn't avoid looking at her sister, though she tried her hardest to focus on her friends.

Rachel and Katie were on form though and they distracted their friend enough that she barely noticed her little sister across the table. The girl enjoyed herself immensely and the Christmas Dinner couldn't have gone any better. By the time overstuffed relatives were flooing back to their homes Leshia was delighted to hear that they would be receiving Katie and Rachel's families for drinks at her place. No doubt Hermione and Draco had insisted on this get-together to stave the awkwardness at home, but Leshia didn't care about the reason behind it, her friends were coming over and that's all that mattered.

Leshia was one of the last to floo across. She'd been trying to catch the white mice the crackers had unleashed and take one home, but she didn't have time and soon found herself wrenched under her father's arm and steered into the hearth. He followed shortly afterwards and when he reached the kitchen his daughter was about to rush off with her friends with a can of some muggle concoction called Coca Cola in her hand.

"Oy," he told the girl fondly and beckoned her over. She rushed back to his side impatiently. "Before the three of you disappear upstairs, can you put on one of the muggle disc film things for the rest of them?"

"What a DVD?" Draco stared at the girl nonplussed.

"No a film disc thing." Leshia grinned, but nodded all the same.

"Sure." She waited for a moment for permission to run off until finally Draco nodded with a small smile on his face. Leshia led the way for all of Rachel's younger siblings and Katie's brother Michael to the Muggle Room. Here she sat them all down on the comfortable settees and put on a Christmas cartoon for them. The younger ones were instantly captivated, but the older ones grumbled in protest and instead gathered in a corner to chat. Leshia didn't care what they did and soon ran back through the sitting room where the parents were already opening a bottle of champagne and then up the stairs to find her best friends lounging about in her messy room.

"I don't see how you can live like this Leshia," Katie admonished the moment Leshia appeared and shut the door behind her. The blonde girl grinned.

"Yeah well I don't see how you can live the way you do. I mean just look at how upset you get when we come over and move something out of its designated place."

"Yeah and the last time we stayed over I'm pretty sure I caught you making my bed while I was still sleeping in it," Rachel agreed humorously. Katie's cheeks glowed and she instead turned her attention on Leshia's wardrobe.

"So," she exclaimed importantly and she pulled the doors open. "Let's decide what you're going to wear for your date with Owen tomorrow Leesh."

"It's not a date."

"Well whatever it is, you've got to look nice."

"Katie he sees me when I'm dressed head to toe in mud stained soaking quidditch gear with my hair standing on end and blood dripping from my face," Leshia explained, thinking of her usual state after a game. "I don't think he cares what I wear."

"Ah, but you are thinking about it," Katie countered lightly leaving Leshia to make an exasperated noise and drop down beside a chuckling Rachel. The redhead stayed well and truly out of it, but laughed herself silly at the power struggle between her friends. In the end Leshia agreed to try on outfits just to silence Katie and a fashion show of sorts unfolded. Finally Katie insisted she had found the right outfit for Leshia, which consisted of the shortest skirt the girl owned – and even then it still nearly reached her knees – and a revealing top the girl had bought for a summer holiday in the sun a few years back. The blonde girl assured her raven-haired friend that she would wear the outfit the following day.

Unsurprisingly, come morning time Leshia didn't do anything of the sort and dressed instead in her standard attire consisting of jeans, top, cardigan and trainers. Dressed for the day the girl rushed down at quarter to ten to find only her mother awake and brewing a cup of tea. Startled, the girl paused in the archway.

"Good morning darling. Where are you off to in such a hurry?" Hermione asked, once her surprise had worn away.

"I said I'd meet Owen at the Cauldron at ten."

"Oh. When will you be back?"

"Not too late. Well, um. I'll see you later." Hermione barely had the time to say goodbye before the girl had rushed back into the hall pulled on her coat and bag and rushed out into the brisk London morning. The girl walked quickly through the relatively quiet streets until she reached Charing Cross Road, which was heaving with muggles as usual. These weren't muggle commuters though; these ones were brandishing oodles of shopping bags and were evidently taking advantage of the Boxing Day sales. Leshia had to battle her way through their midst until finally she reached the small side street that held the unobtrusive and run down pub.

Owen was already waiting and the moment Leshia walked in at ten on the dot he jumped up from a booth off to the right and waved enthusiastically. Within moments Leshia reached his side and accepted the glass of Fizzles Lemonade he had got for her with a grateful smile.

"It's manic out there," she grumbled while she pulled her coat off.

"Tell me about it, mum and Sienna have gone clothes shopping. The way they were preparing for it you'd think they were marching out to battle not wandering down the high street." Leshia giggled and felt a wave of calm come over her. All the agony of Christmas morning seemed a long time ago now, but she knew she'd have to talk about it, so she tried not to forget about it entirely.

"So tell me Malfoy, what was so awful that you had to have that evil bird of yours wake me up at six in the morning?" Leshia grinned apologetically before she explained the whole story to him. Retelling it brought the feelings of neglect flooding back and by the end of it her shoulders were rising and falling rapidly. Owen paused for a moment before he spoke and took a sip of his drink with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"You know what," he finally spoke. "That _does_ suck, your mum was really out of line." Leshia felt her shoulders droop in relief. She hadn't realised she had been holding her breath; desperate to find out what Owen thought of how she had reacted. "Has she apologised?"

"I haven't really spoken to her."

"Yeah all right, but she hasn't even tried?" Leshia shook her head sadly.

"I think she must be a bit, you know, put out that me and dad are back to normal."

"And what did your dad say about it?"

"Nothing. I think he's too happy that everything's fine again between us to try and get me to, you know, talk to my mum and stuff. You should see him Owen, he's totally back to how he always used to be."

"And your mum?"

"Well she's miserable," Leshia replied softly and tears welled up in her eyes. She brushed away at them angrily. "But it's her own fault. She made that choice, not me!" Owen nodded and he took another sip of his drink.

"In the end," he finally spoke. "You're both going to have to make sacrifices. You know that don't you? I mean in the end, you're going to have to take the high road and so is she."

"But she…"

"Yeah Malfoy I know, she's the one that changed the score, fair enough, but if you love your mum then you're going to have to be the bigger person and make it right. I'm just telling you how it is."

Leshia glared childishly at her friend for a moment, not wanting to hear the truth in his words, but eventually she nodded and her expression softened once more. She felt she would agree with anything Owen said.

"So, what d'you get for Christmas? Anything good?" he next spoke charmingly, having sensed that it was time to move away from Leshia's complicated problems lest they get bogged down in them all morning.

The pair chatted for hours without even realising that time was flying. Leshia felt she could have quite happily stayed locked in a booth with Owen all day, but soon he started looking towards the door. He knew his mother and sister would soon be returning and when they did it would be time to go.

"So what's been going on with that Eye of yours? Do you still meet with Tripper or…"

"Oh that!" Quickly Leshia explained what had happened at the Ministry. All the while she rubbed the sore mark on her hand though she had to smile when she remembered how she and the girls had put makeup on it the night before and tried to make it seem less cruel. The result had been a hideous mess, but they'd had a great time while it lasted. The Eye had almost certainly known it was being mocked and it had pained the girl something rotten and glowed fierce red until she washed the make-up off again.

Leshia told him this story too and Owen had to clutch his sides while he laughed, because they hurt so much.

"You?" he finally managed. "Own make-up?" Leshia's jaw dropped in mock outrage and she playfully slapped his arm.

"Yes _I_ own make-up. What's so shocking about that?"

"Well," Owen chuckled. "You're just such a non-girl that's why."

"What the hell is a non-girl?"

"Look don't get your knickers in a twist, I'm trying to give you a compliment. You're just not like the other girls, you're perfect, that's all I'm saying." For a moment Owen seemed embarrassed and he shut his eyes, rubbing the side of his head for something to do.

Leshia wasn't sure if she'd ever liked him more than she did in that moment and before she could stop herself she lunged forward and kissed him ever so quickly. He hadn't been expecting that and when he opened his eyes in surprise Leshia was sipping at her drink a mischievous smile in her face. The young man was chuffed with himself and drank his own drink, his heart thumping powerfully in his chest.

"Oh yeah," he suddenly exclaimed and he reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. He handed this to Leshia. "Do you have a muggle telephone?"

"No. What's that?" For a moment Owen looked dismayed.

"Well it's…" But then he noticed the impish smile on Leshia's face and he shook his head fondly.

"Hilarious Malfoy. Look here's our number. Dad uses it for work sometimes, but I don't think they'd mind if you called on it. As long as you promise not to call at six in the morning."

Leshia smiled shyly and took the piece of paper from the boy. She hiccupped in excitement when she saw the numbers he'd scribbled down and then delicately placed it in her purse deep in her bag.

"I would give you mine," she spoke one she trusted her voice not to do something silly. "But I don't know it off by…Ryan!"

Owen blinked. One moment Leshia had been sat talking to him and the next she was jumping into the arms of a tall and good-looking young man on the cusp of turning twenty. Ryan Lofting, the former quidditch captain of the Hogwarts team, was still as charismatic as ever and the way his face glowed when he greeted the small girl he'd always thought of in the way he thought of his little sister was touching, but suddenly his expression turned severe and it changed when he looked at Owen.

"Ryan, you remember Owen Gabriel right?" Leshia exclaimed giddily. She hadn't noticed the way her older friend's expression had changed.

"Afternoon Gabriel." The girl couldn't ignore Ryan's steely tone of voice however, and she soon glanced up in surprise.

"Ryan what's…"

"I'd like a word with you shorty, if it's not too much trouble." Leshia frowned in worry.

"Am I in trouble?"

"In private?" Leshia turned her eyes on Owen, who was glancing from the girl to the man in concern, but he stood to his feet nevertheless.

"I'll wait over by the bar," he said uneasily, before he skirted round the hulking form of Ryan Lofting and made his way across the pub. Leshia was still confused, but she sat down across from her older friend and waited for him to speak. When he didn't she felt she had to say something,

"Ryan you're scaring me. What's wrong?"

"What's all this crap I've been hearing about you getting off with half the population at Hogwarts eh?" his expression had softened, though his tone was still severe and laden with the over protectiveness he had always felt for Leshia.

"It wasn't half the population at Hogwarts," Leshia complained half-heartedly. "And anyway, where did you hear that?"

"That's beside the point," Ryan quickly countered her. "And what the hell were you thinking when you got wasted?"

"Ryan," the girl complained embarrassedly. She respected the young man so much that this berating of her was torturous.

"No I'm serious shorty, I couldn't believe it when I heard about that night. If I were still at Hogwarts I'd have locked you in your dormitory." Leshia stifled a laugh, but didn't doubt the truth in his words. "I hope you're getting your act together, or I might _have_ to come back to sort you out."

Even his tone was softening now. Ryan Lofting enjoyed seeing the teenager too much to stay mad at her for long, though when he'd heard about her antics through various sources – predominantly his good friend Luka, who regularly received Hogwarts updates from his girlfriend Mila, Leshia's captain – he'd lost his temper the way he would have if he'd heard of his own little sister behaving in such a way. Ryan Lofting had always been proud of Alecia Malfoy, but for the first time he'd felt a little ashamed and he'd hated it.

Leshia could see all this in his face and the thought that she'd made her older friend and idol feel ashamed of her humbled her through to the core.

"I won't do it again, I promise," she assured him. "I'll behave."

"Well what are you doing out with that Gabriel bloke?" He was being over protective again, but Leshia could see his heart wasn't in it.

"Owen? You don't have to worry about Owen Ryan. I trust him and I know he'll always do what's best for me. He's one of the good guys."

"I hope for his sake you're right, because if he messes you around Malfoy I'll fold him in two." Leshia smirked, but she nodded all the same. She glanced over to where the young man in question was loitering, casting her a worried glance every now and then and she smiled broadly.

"Um, can Owen come back now? He doesn't know what to do with himself." Ryan turned around and glanced at the tall young man himself before he let out a heavy sigh. Leshia's growing up bothered him deeply, but he'd never say anything of it to the girl.

"I'd better be off anyway. Julia will be wondering where I've got to." He rose to his feet and quickly Leshia followed, wishing he could stay longer.

"I heard a rumour you and Julia are going to get married," she piped up cheekily. Ryan cast the girl a wry smile and pulled her into a hug.

"Don't be so nosy."

"Ha! You can't talk!"

"Yeah well I'm allowed, I'm bigger than you are." They pulled apart again and Ryan gave the girl his usual charming smile. "Remember what I said Malfoy, you look after yourself."

"I will, I promise."

After one last nod Ryan drifted back into the crowds and Leshia watched him go with a pang of sadness. Soon though Owen had returned looking wary to approach.

"He's gone you wuss," Leshia sniggered.

"What did he want?" Owen asked as he sat down again.

"To set me straight."

"Oh yeah? Well that's good I guess." The young man's face though fell and Leshia frowned for a moment before she turned round to see Mrs Gabriel walking in with Owen's older sister Sienna, who had finished at Hogwarts the year before. "That's my queue to leave I'm afraid."

Leshia nodded bravely and climbed to her feet with her friend. She pulled her coat back on and grabbed her bag before she followed Owen over to the hearth where his family were waiting for him.

"Remember, just a phone call away," the boy told the girl with a corny smile. Leshia laughed, but nodded all the same.

"Thanks Owen, thanks for being there for me."

"I'd do anything for you Malfoy, you know that."

XXX

And so the holidays ambled on with Leshia spending most of her time at either Katie or Rachel's houses or locked up in her room doing the mountain of homework the fourth years had been set by unscrupulous teachers. Draco felt more ease at the girl's infrequent comings and goings than Hermione did, because every night she would seek him out after Hermione had gone to bed to have a chat and a goodnight cuddle. Though he had promised Hermione that he would try to explain to her that awful night when she had seemingly turned her back on their oldest daughter in favour of their youngest, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Leshia was allowing herself to be his little girl again and he felt he would sooner push hot pokers into his eyes than jeopardise that closeness again.

On New Years Eve Leshia woke up late. She'd spent most of the night getting to grips with her impossibly difficult Ancient Runes essay and had finally fallen asleep in the wee hours of the morning. The house was empty and quiet as she descended the stairs and she soon found out why when she found her mother's note in the kitchen,

_Popped out to Diagon Alley to get some fireworks for tonight. Won't be long. There's some scrambled eggs in the fridge if you're hungry._

_Love mum_

Leshia sighed and flicked the note across the counter. She would have liked a trip down Diagon Alley. For a moment she considered running to catch up with her parents when suddenly a menacing face caught her attention. It was the face of Lucius Malfoy. The picture was on the front page of the Daily Prophet, which Draco had left out on the kitchen table beside his customary mug of coffee.

Leshia wrinkled her brow and approached the newspaper; the heading was coming into view. _Killer spotted in London, proof at last!_ Hungrily she dropped down and read the article, which explained the photograph that had been taken had been leaked by a Ministry official and that it was genuine and had been taken less than a fortnight ago. Leshia gulped hard before she found the courage to look at the picture again and soon wished she hadn't.

Her grandfather was looking haggard, but crueller than ever she had seen him. He was furious at whoever had taken the picture and kept moving forward as though to strike the cameraperson. She could believe this was a recent picture, as he seemed far older than when she had seen him at the end of her second year. His eyes though, were still as keen and she knew deep down that he was capable of great evil.

The Eye on her hand burned and quickly she dropped the newspaper. How could it have known she was looking at a picture of her grandfather?

"Sod off," she grumbled at the red mark. "I'm just reading the paper."

But already the girl had sewn the fruits of an idea. She didn't dare focus on it directly in case the Eye was reading her thoughts, but she knew she was going to go to the spot where it had been taken. Before she had been branded and before her scrapbook had been taken away she had triangulated a possible area for him to be hiding in. The picture didn't reveal much about the location, as the houses in the background were the same tall and noble houses that filled every corner of central London, but Leshia still got a feeling that she knew where it was.

She stared heavily at the picture and memorised its every detail. She couldn't take it with her, because if she were caught with the article that might be enough to put her on trial. Every moment she was aware of the searing itching Eye and she rubbed at it absent-mindedly, willing it to stay unaware of her plan. When she could see the picture in her mind's eye she climbed to her feet hurriedly and ran upstairs to change. If her parents came home before she got out the house she was sure she wouldn't be able to hide her plan from them so easily.

Within ten minutes she was out the house, running down Dockstreet in the direction of Tottenham Court Road. Her parents often chose the less busy route to and from Diagon Alley along Gower Road and if she could reach the heaving muggle shopping street she knew she would avoid running into her family. Thankfully fortune was smiling on the girl and she reached the crowded high street a few minutes later. The muggles offered enough cover and she surged along with them to the crossing with Oxford Street, where Tottenham Court Road turned into Charing Cross road. She had grown up in this part of London and knew it intimately.

Her grandfather was hiding, she was sure of it, in the area between Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road known as Soho, so this is where she headed. It had become a trendy hotspot among muggles in recent times and Leshia had to buffer along crowds the whole way. Only once she'd struggled deep into the heart of Soho did she find herself alone along a cramped and run down looking street. She delved into her bag for the map she'd brought with her and searched for Piffle Street, where she had long decided to start her search.

With a flutter of angst she realised she was on a street parallel to Piffle Street and suddenly she seized up. She stuffed the map in her bag and glanced around nervously. Her grandfather could be watching her at this very moment.

"Keep calm," she whispered to herself when she felt her breathing rapidly increasing. "Just keep your head down."

And so she did. She hurried up the street towards the café she had long ago read about, the café where Lucius Malfoy had been spotted many weeks ago. She found it within no time and stood across the road, taking in the red peeling paint on the dormer window and the rickety sign that read _Cindy's Café_. The girl glanced left up the street and then right, but seeing nothing out of the ordinary she crept across the road and pushed heavily into the door. It opened with a jangle, but none of the regulars looked up. A heavyset woman behind a greasy looking counter raised her eyebrows at the teenager, but said nothing. Leshia approached her anxiously, stealing just a moment to look towards the table in the window where the witness swore she had seen her grandfather. Just then her Eye burned, but she forced the pang away and approached the woman.

"What can I get you love?" the large woman asked in a gravelly voice.

"Um, I'm actually looking for someone," Leshia replied boldly, forcing away her unease in favour of the self-assuredness she usually adopted.

"Don't sell people." The woman seemed fierce and Leshia felt in her pocket for change. She knew she'd never get any answers at this rate. With a handful of money she pulled it out and saw to her great relief that it was predominantly muggle change. She had hoped that this would be the case, as she'd last worn these jeans when her mother took her shopping down the muggle high street.

"Okay then, well can I have an orange juice please?"

"Orange juice?"

"Hmm."

With a heavy sigh the woman got to work. She clearly hated her work and the way she opened the fridge cantankerously, pulled out a carton of orange juice and sloshed it into a glass made Leshia pity her, rather than resent her. Moments later she'd slid the glass towards the short pretty girl and held out her hand.

"That'll be two quid." No longer sympathetic Leshia grimaced while she handed over two shiny one pound coins and stuffed the rest of the change back in her pocket.

'Two quid for a glass of out-of-the-carton orange juice?' she thought to herself angrily. 'What a rip off!'

"So this person I'm looking for," the girl spoke up again, entirely ignoring her high priced drink. The fierce woman craned her head back, looking down her nose at the small teenager. "Well he was in here a while back see and I'm wondering if he's been in since."

"What's he look like?"

"He's tall and really pale. And he's got really long white hair that's going sort of grey and, well, he's got eyes just like mine."

"Relative is he?" Leshia winced and ignored the question. "Some people were in asking about the same man a few months back. Loads of 'em. Don't remember him though."

Leshia pushed back her sigh and nodded. She realised that of course Ministry witches and wizards would have come after the report and interrogated anyone who'd been in the café at the time. Following this they would no doubt have obliterated any memories of the event lest fanatical people come hunting for Lucius afterwards, which by the sound of the woman's account was exactly what had happened.

"Okay then, thanks for your help." Leshia turned to go.

"What about your drink?"

"I'm not thirsty anymore." With this Leshia pulled the door open and the bell jangled once more. She didn't see the woman behind the counter turning to pick up a telephone in the corner. She couldn't know she'd been given orders to call a special number if ever anyone came looking for the tall blond man again.

Leshia scratched at the burned Eye and glanced up and down the street. With a grim sigh she headed off to Piffle street once more and stared up its length with an increasing feeling of dread. She walked up and down it several times, but nothing out of the ordinary happened or occurred to the girl. There was a muggle man down one end fixing the motor in his automobile and on her third walk past him he called out to the teenaged girl.

"You alright there pet? Not lost are you?" Leshia jumped a little and turned round to see the ageing man was a kindly sort of creature.

"I'm looking for someone actually." Again she described her grandfather. The car washing muggle listened patiently, but had to shake his head.

"Not seen anyone like that round these parts dearie," he replied apologetically. Leshia thanked him and went on her way. She spoke to a few more people, but every single one gave her the same blank response.

"Oh it's no use," the girl sighed heavily and she turned to go. Quite suddenly though she stopped and stared at the houses across the street. Then she turned around and stared at the ones behind her. Again she looked at the buildings across the street and with a jolt of panic she realised this was where her grandfather's recent photo had been taken. Her skin crept uncomfortably and she shuffled closer to the muggle cars, feeling safer now she had something to hide behind.

"He's been here. He's been here recently…agh!"

Her hand was on fire! The agony whipping up her nerves nearly disabled the girl, but she kept her wits about her long enough to burst into a run. Determined not to get caught she sprinted from the suspicious spot she had found herself in and rounded a corner mid-way along Piffle Street. Quite suddenly she glanced off someone and landed on the ground.

When she saw who she had crashed into she very nearly fainted with terror. Even the pain in her hand became numb when she saw him: Silas Tripper.

"S-s-s-si-si-sir-sir," she stammered and she climbed from her knees to her feet, but something was wrong. Professor Tripper seemed deathly afraid of his very surroundings and as though he hadn't even noticed the girl he put one foot out unsurely in front of the other and hobbled on, his arms outstretched as though he were blind or very disoriented. Leshia stared after him.

What was going on?

She didn't wait to find out though and turned and ran. She didn't stop running, even when she stumbled into the heavy pedestrian traffic along Oxford Street. Indeed, she didn't stop running till she reached her house where she paused for a moment on the steps and got her breath back. Her heart was racing, her hand burning, she didn't know whether she'd been caught or not and couldn't even muster the courage to go inside. What had just happened? Why had Tripper seemed so deranged? Why hadn't he even recognised her?

For ten minutes she sat on the steps, frozen solid with fear, until finally the door behind her wrenched open. Leshia spun around to find her father looking at her with a relieved expression clear on his face while in the hall behind stood her mother talking hurriedly with Sabine Hirsh. They all stared at the girl in surprise.

"Leshia, where have you been?" Draco asked urgently when his surprise wore off. He reached down and helped Leshia inside, though she stayed very close to him when she saw the significant way Madam Hirsh was looking at her.

"We've been terrified darling," Hermione now spoke. "You hadn't even left us a note!"

Evidently Madam Hirsh hadn't told Leshia's parents for the urgency of her visit, but they knew something was amiss. They wanted desperately to talk to their daughter alone and find out where she had been and what she had doing, but Madam Hirsh had pressing business with the girl. Leshia's Eye was glowing ferociously.

"Is there somewhere I can speak to Leshia Draco?" Madam Hirsh asked her former colleague, who nodded jerkily.

"My study. Please, it's this way." With Leshia clamped under one arm he led the way through the dark corridor under the stairs to the wood panelled study. Madam Hirsh went in first followed by Leshia, but when Draco tried to follow Leshia pushed him back.

"Can I talk to her alone?" she asked in a whisper. She seemed deathly afraid.

"Why?"

"I just, I have to," Leshia replied shakily. "I can't tell you now." Draco glanced past his daughter to where Madam Hirsh had made herself comfortable on one of the leather settees along the wall. Her expression was still very serious.

"Sweetheart what were you doing?" Draco lowered his voice to a whisper. Leshia felt naughty and ashamed and shook her head.

"Something I shouldn't have been doing." With this thought she pulled back and closed the door, shutting out her father's worried expression. Draco made no effort to stop her, though he sank down against the wall outside the study, his heart rate quickening.

Inside the wood panelled room Leshia approached Madam Hirsh and sat down at her side. Just how much the Auror knew Leshia wasn't sure, but evidently they knew something, or she wouldn't have arrived when she did. Eventually the kind-faced woman let out a heavy sigh and she spoke.

"I'm afraid I'm obliged to ask you these questions Leshia. Answer them truthfully." For a moment Madam Hirsh's face creased into a pleading expression and she added powerfully. "Please."

Fearing what might happen if she lied Leshia nodded ardently to say she wouldn't dream of it.

"Good. Now then, have you been engaged in any dark activity since our meeting yesterday morning?" A broad sweeping question that Leshia was sure she could answer truthfully.

"No," she responded slowly. "Nothing dark."

Madam Hirsh glanced to the Eye on the girl's hand, which didn't change. Nodding quickly she asked the next question,

"And have you been involved in any suspicious activity since our meeting yesterday morning?"

Leshia hung her head and her eyes creased slightly. She held her branded hand to her chest with her good one and rubbed the skin alongside her burning mark for comfort. Finally she responded,

"Yes," she said softly. Madam Hirsh winced and Leshia knew why, her hand felt as though it were on fire again and with a small cry she dropped it into her lap. "I went for a look, that's all, to see the street where that picture was taken, you know, the one in the Daily Prophet this morning."

"Why?" Madam Hirsh demanded powerfully, emotion straining in her voice.

"I don't know why, I just wanted to see. There's no harm in it, nothing else happened I swear!"

Again her hand burned in agony and Leshia cried out louder. Her whole right arm was trembling now and the pain the teenager was in was making Madam Hirsh's face contort into such sympathy it made Leshia's head swim.

"I asked you not to lie Leshia, something else has happened that you are not reporting to me."

"Okay okay," Leshia panted. "I went to the café, you know the one, down Dodge Street to ask if the woman had seen him recently. I don't know why I did that, but I did and I can't undo it."

The pain in her hand was lessening and Leshia pulled her hand to her front again and nursed the searing Eye as best as she could. She met Madam Hirsh's eye and felt comforted by the relief that lay there. It was as though she were receiving communications that Leshia couldn't hear, for she stayed quiet for a moment and then nodded resolutely.

"What's going to happen now?" Leshia asked quietly and she let out a long slow breath as the pain had all but receded now.

"You'll receive a written warning." A torrent of emotion that Leshia hadn't realised she was holding back suddenly released and tears sprung from her eyes. She wiped at the furiously. "There there girlie, don't fret. The worst of it is over."

Leshia accepted the pink and purple striped handkerchief that Madam Hirsh was handing her and she dabbed at her eyes. Promptly she gave it back to the auror and sniffed loudly to stave any more tears.

"Now I know you're a curious sort Leshia. I knew your father very well when he worked at the Ministry and he told me all about you. I also know you're a Malfoy and it's in your nature to seek revenge when you feel you're owed. Your father holds grudges too." Leshia didn't feel insulted by these words, because she knew they were true. "But let me advise you and please, listen carefully to what I say. This en't no game child, this is more serious than you can imagine. Them people who put that mark on your hand didn't do so as a warning; they were taking the first steps to locking you away from your father, from your mother and from all your friends. If you walk right into their hands you'll be an old woman before they let you out. Them who care about you would have no say; you'd be gone, lost to them. You think carefully about that."

Leshia nodded and felt a stab of immense guilt when she thought of the pain she would cause her parents and the pain she would cause her friends if they could never see her again.

Madam Hirsh was rising to her feet and as she went she patted Leshia's hanging head comfortingly.

"You're a brave young lady, there's no doubting that." With this she swept out of the room. Leshia heard her talking to her parents, but didn't really heed what was said. They talked for a long time and by the time they were through she had promised herself that she would no longer seek out Lucius. What a waste of a life it would be if she got herself thrown in Azkaban. When she heard her parents saying goodbye Leshia rose to her feet and wandered out to find the on route to the study.

"Can we not talk about it?" she spoke before words could come tumbling from their mouths. "I know what I've done and I know how lightly I got off, so can we just…can we just not talk about it. Please?" Draco's shoulders drooped and he nodded once, but Hermione's face contorted in emotion. She couldn't just let it drop, she knew she couldn't.

"I don't think I can just let this go Leshia. I don't think you understand."

The blonde girl stared coldly into her mother's eyes.

"I understand perfectly well," she countered icily. She raised her throbbing hand and showed her mother the glowing mark. "I understand what this can do and I understand how it works now! I don't see one on your hand, so I don't think _you_ understand. I won't let it hurt me like that again."

With this Leshia marched past her mother and dashed up the stairs before Hermione could call out to her. Draco stared at the floor, before he let out an exasperated noise and stalked into the kitchen where a cabinet of bottles lay in the corner by the pantry. By the time Hermione joined him he was clutching at his second tumbler full of whiskey, having downed the first one. His wife was glaring at him.

"You just stood by," she accused him.

"Pardon me?"

"You stood by and let her talk to me like that, as though I were nothing. I'm still her mother! Doesn't that mean anything?" Draco's brow lowered darkly.

"She was pleading with us to leave her alone, to let her digest this whole sorry business in private. Don't blame me because you couldn't grant her that simple courtesy."

"Oh don't give me that," Hermione cried out loudly. "If she were still ignoring you you would have been the exact same."

"I would not."

"Yes you would. Just admit it! You're going to have endless opportunities to talk about today with her, but what chances am I going to have? She doesn't talk to me at home and soon she'll be back at school where I have absolutely no say in what she does."

"You could have bloody well left it for a few hours though couldn't you? But no, you couldn't leave it. You never can!"

"Don't talk like that to me!" Hermione now cried out, tears welling up in her eyes. "You're the one who always has to intervene in everything she does. Not me!"

"Well you're the one who's pushed her away!"

"That's so unfair! How could you say such a thing Draco?"

Their voices were rising and up above their daughter heard their every word. Tears had started streaming down her cheeks again when she realised her stupid foolishness had led to yet another fight between her parents. It was her fault they were on the brink…it was all her fault. Knowing what she had to do she strode over to her desk and searched inside her wooden keepsake box for the number Owen had scribbled on a piece of paper.

The phone she needed stood in the downstairs hall and so with her heart in her mouth Leshia tiptoed out into the landing. Her parents voices were so much louder, so much angrier, so much crueller without her door to muffle them. They were laying into each other, bringing up old wounds as well as new ones and for a moment Leshia was paralysed by their cruelty to one another. She regained control though of her body and forced herself to creep down the stairs, artfully avoiding those planks and floorboards that might give her away. She reached the phone in silence and picked up the cordless device before turning on heel and darting back up the stairs again. She pressed her free hand into her ear and squeezed her shoulder against the other one to block out their screams when she heard her mother cry out,

"You've never taken my side! You're always so afraid of losing her. What basis for a strong relationship is that if you can't say or do anything that might turn her away from you?"

To which her father replied furiously,

"That is total and utter bollocks!"

Within no time Leshia had reached her room and she pushed the door shut behind herself, feeling a little relieved by how it muffled their horrible words. She dialled the number with shaking hands, her tears falling on the screen and merging the digits. As she pressed the phone to her ear she hoped against hope she hadn't dialled it wrong, but soon enough a little girl's voice came down the phone,

"Hello this is Claire Gabriel speaking." Leshia hiccupped away her tears and forced herself to sound natural.

"Hi. Is Owen there please?"

"Yeah he's here." Owen's littlest sister paused on the other end of the line and Leshia nearly rolled her eyes.

"Could I speak to him please? It's Leshia."

"Leshia?" young Claire asked delightedly. "From school?"

"Yes." Giggles erupted on the other end of the line from not one, but two girls and Leshia felt her eyes burning with embarrassment and annoyance. Thankfully though, Claire didn't drag out her misery.

"Owen!" Leshia heard her yelling in the background. "It's your _girlfriend_ on the phone." She was teasing him and Owen's two little sisters now burst into reams of laughter. Still tears streamed down Leshia's cheeks when she heard a particularly loud sob come from down below. Any minute now they'd wake up the baby and then what?

Finally she heard Owen's voice grumbling at the giggling girls on the other end of the line before he managed to snatch the phone from them.

"Malfoy, is that you?" he asked charmingly and from the waning laughter and the sound of footfalls on the stairs Leshia could guess Owen had escaped his sisters.

"Yeah it's me," she managed through her misery. There was a pause on the other end and even the footsteps stopped.

"Are you crying?"

"Yes."

The footsteps started again at a quicker pace than before and soon Leshia heard a door closing and then silence. Owen didn't know what to say.

"My parents," she offered. "They're having a massive fight downstairs. I think…Owen I think they hate each other. And what's worse is, well it's all my fault. I did something stupid today and now they're having a massive fight because of me!" Leshia broke down into tears and for several minutes she cried quietly. She couldn't know how the sound of it broke Owen's heart and how he felt incapacitated by her pain.

In the nursery next-door Evie finally woke up to the screams downstairs and she matched them with her own. Leshia fell silent and even Owen could hear why. No one could deny that Evie was a surprisingly loud infant.

"Is that your sister?" he asked redundantly.

"Yes," Leshia sniffed and she staved her tears. This wasn't helping anyone. "Oh Owen I don't know what to do. I'm just so unhappy."

"I know," he replied gently. "Look, it's just a week and then school will start again and you'll be able to get away from it all."

"_Just_ a week. A week's a bloody age!"

"You wouldn't be saying that if I said you had a week to live," Owen countered her and Leshia could hear him smiling. "You'd be saying 'Christ! Only a week! I've got so much to do and so little time!'"

"Yeah," Leshia laughed. "But that's not the case though is it?"

"Can't you pretend, for me?" Again the girl laughed and it was like music to Owen's ears. That he could bring her back from the brink of complete and utter misery made him feel indescribably good.

"Okay," she managed through a shudder. "I'll pretend I've only got a week to live, for you."

"Great. So that's the first thing you've got to do. Second thing is you've got to get out that house."

"Where will I go?"

"I would love to say here Malfoy, I would love to see you, but I think you'll understand when I say that while my sisters are home I'm not inviting you here. I'd be locked up in Azkaban for using some if not all of the Unforgivable curses before you'd even had a chance to take your coat off." Leshia laughed happily and nodded in the gloom of her room.

"No I understand. They are terribly, I'm sorry for not believing you."

"That was just a fraction of their evil power. Look why don't you go to Weasley's?"

"That's a good idea," Leshia sniffed. "Only thing is their fighting in the kitchen, which is where the flooing fireplace is."

"So what? Just ignore them. They'll stop fighting when they see you. Someone should probably let them know you're sister's up and wailing anyway. Damn that baby is loud!"

"Tell me about it." A pause followed in which Leshia rubbed the rest of her tears away with her sore hand. "Thanks Owen. I'd better go before they realise what they're doing and then try and talk to me about it."

"Yeah alright. No worries Leshia, like said, anytime."

"Can we see each other before we go back to school?"

"Name a time and a place and I'm there."

"Tomorrow, one-o clock at the Cauldron."

"It's a d…" Owen paused and then continued unsurely. "It's a deal." The weight of what he had wanted to say made a tingle of electricity carry down Leshia's spine, but she said nothing of it.

"Good. Well I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Okay."

"Bye."

"I love you."

Leshia's eyes went as wide as they could possibly go and her breath caught in her throat. The line had gone dead and now the caller busy tone was ringing persistently in her ear. What had he just said? Had she heard him properly?

Frantically, her heart in her mouth, she redialled the boy's number. He picked up instantly.

"Owen what did you just say?" She heard him laugh.

"Get off the phone and go to Rachel's house. I'll see you tomorrow."

With that he hung up once more leaving Leshia unsure of whether she had heard him correctly or not. She didn't have time to ponder it now though; she could truly dissect their whole conversation with Rachel's help when she got to the Weasley's house. What was important now was getting out the house before her parents tried to talk to her about what she'd heard.

She made no attempt at creeping this time and quickly made her way down to the hall and dropped the phone in its cradle. Then, with her head held high, she strode into the kitchen. The moment she did so her parents stopped and stared at their daughter in shock, but she didn't heed them and instead climbed into the grate and grabbed an handful of floor powder. They made no attempt to stop her.

"She's crying by the way," Leshia told them soberly, before she dropped the powder and cried out, "Thirteen Windermere Street, Winchester."

In a swirl of green flames she was gone, reappearing moments later in the kitchen at Rachel's house. She startled the life out of Ron who had been making a sandwich for his impatient young son Matthew.

"Leshia! You scared the life out of me, is everything okay?"

"Sorry to barge in," Leshia quickly offered though she could see Ron's face was sympathetic. He could see she had been crying. "Is Rachel about?"

"Yes she's upstairs, go right on up." Leshia smiled gratefully at her best friend's father and after swooping to give Matthew a hug, for the little boy had started calling out her name the moment she appeared, the girl ran through the house and straight up to Rachel's bedroom. The door was plastered with a dozen or so posters of quidditch players and a band Leshia had never heard of and it also bore a sign that had once read_No Boys Allowed_, but had long been changed to read, _No Slytherins Allowed_.

The blonde girl didn't knock, but pushed the door open to find her friend sprawled on her front reading an enormous Ancient Runes book. Her back was turned to the door and without looking out she angrily complained,

"What have I told you lot about knocking?"

"Um, sorry. I'll come back in," Leshia mumbled and she pulled the door shut again. This time she knocked on it only to have it wrenched open by a confused Rachel.

"I thought it was you, what are you doing you muppet? _You_ don't need to knock. I thought you were one of those harpie sisters of mine. They've been bugging me all afternoon because they know I don't know a bleeding thing about Runes and I can't do our bloody essay, but…" Rachel paused when she got a good look at her friend and quickly she closed the door behind them. "But you haven't come to commiserate about our Runes essay have you? Something's happened."

Leshia nodded shakily and she sat down on the plush carpet cross-legged. She retold the whole story; only leaving out the fact that she had met Tripper on the corner of Piffle Street and that he had been acting as though his brains had been addled. Leshia was beginning to think she must have imagined this part, because she didn't see how she could have escaped him unscathed had it really been Tripper.

"Wow Leesh, that's pretty heavy," Rachel finally spoke when her friend had brought her story to a close.

"I'm so scared they're going to break up." Now the redhead looked up sharply and she shook her head.

"Two fights don't suddenly mean they're going to break up. I mean my parents…" She paused for a moment and Leshia felt horribly guilty for being so insensitive. "My parents were fighting like that every day for months before they called it quits. I don't think you have anything to worry about."

"Sorry Rach, I didn't think."

"Don't be stupid, of course you didn't. You've had a rough day."

The two girls lulled into silence while Leshia picked at the enormous Runes tome. She'd lost all energy to talk and Rachel could sense as much, but she was excited about one particular part of Leshia's story.

"So Owen really said that he loved you and then hung up?" A big grin pulled onto Leshia's face and she nodded quickly.

"I swear he did, but then when I called back he pretended he hadn't. I don't think he meant to say it you know."

"Yes, but he did! Oh wow!"

"You sound like Katie."

"Can we tell Katie?"

"Of course we'll tell Katie, what time is the party round theirs?" Rachel glanced at her watch.

"A few hours yet. Are you going to go dressed like that?" Leshia glanced down at her clothes and shrugged her shoulders.

"I'll give them time to calm down and then go home and change right before we have to leave. Hopefully they won't try to talk to me. I wouldn't know what to say."

Rachel sighed heavily and shuffled to sit next to Leshia so that she could wrap her arm around her best friend's shoulders tightly. She squeezed her friend into a semi-hug that Leshia appreciated immensely.

"The crap you get yourself into," Rachel finally sighed and despite her mood Leshia laughed happily. "You just never learn do you?"

XXX

New Years Eve was a solemn occasion for the Malfoys and the week that passed equally so. All in all Leshia was delighted when the time came to wheel her trunk to King's Cross in order to board the Hogwarts Express again. She hadn't allowed her parents to talk to her about the fight she'd overheard and had spent most of the remainder of the holidays hiding at Rachel's house or meeting Owen at the Cauldron.

Hermione had never seemed so downtrodden as when she hugged her daughter goodbye and offered soft words of apology for the miserable fortnight they'd all endured. Leshia remained silent though and could only offer a whispered goodbye before she sought out her friend's in the cabin they'd already reserved with their trunks. The girl remained in a grim mood for many hours until finally a passing visit from Owen cheered her up no end.

Being back at the castle was like a breath of fresh air for Leshia and as soon as she crossed the threshold she felt fully back to he old self again. Her friends sensed the change in the girl and were thankful for whatever magic Hogwarts had worked. Gryffindor tower was alive with laughter that night and as such come Monday morning the youngsters were all very groggy, but still smiling. For the fourth years their first lesson of the day was to be Defence Against the Dark Arts and with full stomachs and tired brains they made their way to the first floor corridor that housed their classroom. The Gryffindors arrived slightly after their Slytherin counterparts and upon seeing the snakes Leshia's skin scrawled. She'd forgotten just how much Damian Allseyer got on her nerves.

The boy was smiling slyly at her while she approached and though she tried to ignore him he blocked her path making it impossible. His eyes darted to the Eye on her hand and his smile turned to a look of revulsion. It was all an act of course, it had become his lot in life to torture Leshia Malfoy to the extent that she lost her temper and the Eye glowed and burned her. He'd seen it by chance once, but soon worked out the correlation.

"It won't be long now," the Slytherin rat was speaking for all to hear. "I hope you all read the papers. He's been sighted, Lucius Malfoy."

Leshia bristled slightly while her friends tried to turn her away from the pointy-faced boy and his cruel words.

"And when he's caught you'll go down with him."

"You don't know what you're talking about Allseyer," Leshia growled.

"Oh no? _That _speaks for itself doesn't it? My father told me that there's never been a case of an innocent person being branded with the Eye. They all end up in Azkaban eventually."

Leshia's thoughts flew to her father and she shook her head heavily.

"Well that's where you're wrong, because I can think of at least one person." Allseyer's cruel smile grew; she'd walked right into his trap.

"Thinking of daddy are we? There's still time yet. As soon as his old man goes down, he'll stand no chance. None of you Malfoys will. Good riddance is all I say!" Leshia's hand burned and she knew without looking at it that it was glowing. She was seething. How dare this ignorant _child_ talk about these things as though he were the authority on the matter?

"You're a fool Allseyer," she whispered shakily. "You're talking about it likes it's some sort of game. You've got no clue do you? You're just a foolish childish little boy and if it takes me the rest of my life I will lose this and I will deal you what you've got coming to you!"

She'd seen too much and she'd felt too much pain. The girl seemed dangerous and yet wise at the same time and for a moment even her friends turned and stared at her. It was as though all the darkness in the world had possessed the blonde girl, if only for a moment.

"I'm telling Tripper about this!" Allseyer's call went out. He was afraid.

"No," Leshia countered him furiously. "You won't." A stalemate ensued and the girl and boy stared each other down, until finally a tall young man with black hair and pale eyes came to stand between them. Julius Black faced his Slytherin companion and uttered under his breath,

"Don't waste your time. You'll be dragged into it."

Considered a silent authority amongst the fourth year snakes Julius Black's words had a powerful impact on Allseyer, who gave Leshia one last disgusted look and turned on heel.

"I'm not going to waste any more time on you Malfoy. You can stew in your own mess." With this he flounced off with his gang of cronies in close pursuit in order to file onto the back of the line. Leshia's shoulders were rising and falling rapidly. Oh how she wished she could march up to that vile horrid boy and curse him. Julius Black meanwhile had turned round and he quickly caught Leshia's eye. He merely shook his head minutely at the girl before he dropped back into the queue of silenced pupils. Leshia continued to watch him though his head was now hanging and she continued to do so till a fast loping stride at the end of the corridor forced her and her friends into the queue as well, where they briefly checked the status of their shirts.

Draco could sense the residue of hostility in the air and after checking to see his daughter's face was stony he guessed correctly that she had been at the heart of the conflict. He said nothing of it though and checked the row of shirts before standing back to let them pass. His mood was quite dichotic as usual, but as he took his place at the front of the classroom a small smile snaked onto his handsome face.

"Good morning fourth years, I wish I could say I'm happy to see you, but you all seem so miserable I won't bother." A titter of laughter brightened up several glum faces. "Today's lesson will be quite an enjoyable one I'm sure. Over the next three weeks you're going to be learning how to conjure a Patronus Charm and we will be starting this topic with a practical session."

Several of the youngsters sat up straight, their faces keen and alert. Katie's hand was hovering over her desk, ready to fly into the air should Professor Malfoy ask them a question.

"Who can tell me what a Patronus is?" Right on queue the raven-haired girl's hand snapped into the air and her eagerness earned her a smile from Leshia's father. "Yes Miss Potter?"

Katie inhaled for a moment, relishing in her own knowledge before she spoke clearly and carefully,

"A Patronus, when conjured correctly, is a silvery-white creature cast by a witch or wizard from the tip of their wand to defend them against the attacks of certain creatures, such as Dementors or Lethifolds."

Leshia and Rachel glanced to one another with a wry smile and in unison they shook their heads. What they would do without Katie's encyclopaedia-like knowledge when she started out on the return voyage of the exchange programme in a week's time they had no idea. How would they cope without her giving them the answers all the time?

"An excellent answer Miss Potter, five points for Gryffindor. And who can tell me what form the creature takes?" A few more hands lifted into the air, Leshia's amongst them.

"Yes Miss Malfoy?"

"It depends on your personality doesn't it?"

"How so?"

"Well if you're a really brave sort of person then your Patronus might be in the form of a lion or something, but if you're a bit of a wuss…I mean a coward," Leshia quickly covered when the class started laughing. Draco silenced them with a look.

"Carry on Miss Malfoy."

"Well yeah, so if you're a coward then it might be a…um…a wet fish maybe." Again a laugh from the class. "And if you're a filthy horrible excuse for a human being then it might be in the form of a rat." Here the girl glared across the classroom at Damian Allseyer, who met her eyes and narrowed his own.

"Interesting examples, but correct nonetheless," their teacher quickly spoke up, his tone firm enough that Leshia dropped her glaring match with her nemesis and looked up at her father innocently. Across the class those who hadn't heard were beginning to see the change that had happened between the girl and her father and many sighed a sigh of relief. Defence Against the Dark Arts would be a far more pleasant experience without the tension Leshia's ignoring of her father had wrought on the whole class.

"The ability to cast a Patronus," Draco was continuing to the class. "Is something some of you may learn in a day, yet it make take others years of diligent study. There are those who cannot access powerful enough memories or thoughts and for these it will be the hardest. Who knows what sort of memories or thoughts fuel the Patronus and determine its strength? Yes Mr Black?"

"Positive ones sir."

"Well done, five points to Slytherin. Mr Black is right of course, you will all need to search deep within yourselves for the happiest memories or the most joyous thoughts you can find and it will be these that will help you cast the Patronus Charm."

"Um, sir?" Everyone's eyes darted to a Slytherin girl at the back of the room. Taryn Silverton was a mousy sort of girl, who many had doubted was a true Slytherin due to her meek nature, until the day word spread that she had reportedly burned a fifth year girl's hair off for borrowing her hairbrush without asking. "My dad told me once that he learned how to do a Patronus for his NEWTs. Are we…I mean aren't we…"

"Doing it too soon?" Draco offered kindly to the shy girl, who nodded quickly.

"It's true that even when I was at school it was tackled far later in the curriculum, but times have changed and when the Dementors turned on the magical community the ability to defend oneself against them became a high priority. In fact, ten years ago or so Patronus magic was covered every single year. Thankfully this isn't the case any more, though rest assured, you will be covering them in your seventh year as well."

The fourth years listened intently while Draco instructed them on the state of mind they must try to seek and then the proper incantation. The class repeated it after their teacher several times over until each one of them had a good grasp of the charm. Finally, when Draco could sense the attention of his class slipping he stood back and took out his wand. He hadn't demonstrated yet the charm in action and it was time to remind them of what they were trying to achieve.

For a moment he cleared his mind and thought back to the happiest memories he could muster. The images came flowing to him: the first time he and Hermione had kissed, the births of both his children, the first time Leshia had uttered 'dada', the day Hermione came back to him and most recently the day Leshia did too. These positive emotions flowed through him until he could almost see his Patronus in his minds eye. When he knew he was ready he opened his eyes and spoke out the incantation.

"_Expecto patronum._" Out from his wand shot an enormous silver raven that emerged flapping into the classroom. It all happened so suddenly that the teenagers sat in the front row actually screamed in panic, but there was nothing to fear about the Patronus. It may have taken the form of a frightening and seemingly ferocious large bird – which surprised only Leshia – but it emanated such positive feelings that they were all drawn towards it.

When the class had been awed long enough Draco dropped his wand and released the charm and the Raven disappeared in a cloud of light. The class still stared at him in shock and surprise.

"Very well then. Off you go." Nobody moved a muscle until finally a hand popped up. "Yes Miss Malfoy?"

"Are we doing them at our desks sir?"

"Yes, at your desks."

"But…but what if we hit the person in front?"

Draco suppressed the smile on his face. He didn't want the girl to think him mocking her and by the looks on her peers' faces it was evident they all thought as she did. They still had so much to learn.

"I will give a hundred housepoints to the person who manages to form a Patronus so strong and with such a defined form that it knocks the person in front over. Don't you worry about that. Spend today's lesson trying to reach the frame of mind you need, don't worry about anything else."

Across the room a sort incantation was uttered and then another at the back. One by one the pupils in the room searched their happiest of memories and daydreams in order to find the positive emotions they needed to cast the charm. And slowly, one by one, whispers of white smoke started escaping the ends of wands. Rachel was the first to do so out of the whole class and when Draco saw it he silence the pupils and asked the redhead to demonstrate. Thankfully she was able to repeat the process and didn't mind when Draco asked what she had been using to fuel the Patronus.

"I was thinking about the Hearing Aid performance Professor," the girl replied shyly.

"Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor."

And so the lesson continued. Katie succeeded soon afterwards, as did Rodeo and Parys. Of course none of them held any sort of form, but they had at least achieved the beginnings of a Patronus. Out of the whole class only Leshia floundered.

She tried. Oh she tried very hard! But every time her mind found a happy memory or a pleasing thought fell into her head the cruel Eye on her had started burning and she lost the happiness she needed to carry out the charm. The fact that she couldn't manage what everyone else had achieved was crushing to the usual overachiever and this frame of mind only furthered her failure in trying to conjure the charm.

Towards the end of the lesson, when all the pupils had now taken it upon themselves to create even larger clouds of smoke Draco walked over to his daughter's desk and crouched down. She'd given up and was staring at her hands.

"It's not working is it?" he asked softly, so as only her friends sitting nearby could hear.

"No." The Eye on her hand was glowing again.

"No," her father repeated sadly. "I didn't think it would."

"It's because of this isn't it?" The girl lifted her hand pitifully.

"I'm afraid so. It interferes in deeper magic than its creators had intended." Again Draco's mind lingered on the fact that when he came near to the Eye all he could sense was its powerful cruel magic rather than the young girl it had been branded on.

"Wonderful," Leshia sighed grimly, but she forced a smile at her father, which he returned. No more needed to be said and so he stood up and brought the lesson to a close. The only good thing to come out of the lesson as far as Leshia was concerned was the fact that her peers received homework to work on their Patronuses, which she of course could not do.

XXX

The week passed by frighteningly quickly. Leshia, Katie and Rachel became quite inseparable, as each one realised in turn that they would now be incomplete and separated from one of their trio for a whole term. Parys too would be going and together the five friends seemed very down as the weekend approached. The only positive twist Leshia could give to the trip was that both Damian Allseyer and Julius Black would be going. She didn't know how Julius Black had managed to get himself back on the list and she suspected she never would, but inwardly she was grateful. The boy unnerved her still, despite the help he'd given to her over the years.

Sunday night a big feast was held to say farewell to those Hogwarts pupils who would be going their separate ways in the morning. Katie and Parys' group were apparating out first thing and they wouldn't really get a chance to say goodbye in the morning. All across the Great Hall pupils were in tears and hugging their friends. Leshia hadn't realised quite how emotional she would get at Katie's departure and found herself close to tears most of the night.

When everyone had finished their meals and the plates disappeared to be seen to down in the kitchens, Dumbledore the headmaster rose to his feet.

"Dear pupils," he called out to his school with the fondness of a grandfather addressing his grandchildren. "I feel very sorry to say goodbye to some of you and just as sorry to see the sadness in the faces of those being left behind. Remember though that this will be an adventure! The sights you will see and the experiences you will gain will last you a lifetime and I am envious of all of you. I can offer little consolation to those who will be staying, save that three months, when you look back at your long lives, is a very short amount of time. Before you know it, your friends will be back with stories to last for weeks and hopefully a little keepsake or two."

Leshia and Rachel grinned pointedly at Katie, who giggled through the tears that were streaming down her cheeks.

"You hear that?" Rachel whispered. "Bring back presents!"

"Serve your school well wherever you are travelling and don't be afraid to try every new experience offered to you. We will be awaiting your return with great anticipation. Do not forget that! Now then, our travellers have an early start ahead of them, so please, try to keep any festivities back in your common rooms down to a minimum." Here the headmaster turned his twinkling eyes on Gryffindor table, where many were bashfully avoiding his gaze. "Perhaps try to limit yourselves to a round of drinks and then off to bed hmm?"

With this he sat down triggering a trickle of pupils to start moving towards the door. Leshia and her friends soon followed, with the blonde girl and her redhead friend sandwiching Katie in-between them while they walked. They were too glum for words and Katie too nervous to call them on it. She was so looking forward to seeing Luisa again, but the prospect of living away from Hogwarts in a far far away land was damn right terrifying.

"Malfoy!" Leshia turned around just as she stepped through the portrait hole into the common room and found Mila the quidditch captain pushing crowds out the way to get to her star seeker.

"Hi Mila, you okay?"

"Yes! I just need to discuss something with you. Come with me."

Leshia furrowed her brow at her friends in curiosity, but followed Mila through the common room and up the girls' stairs all the same. For the first time since second year Leshia walked into another girls dormitory other than her own and the similarity yet difference of it all made her feel uncomfortable. The seventh year girls had had a lot more time to get settled in than their fourth year counterparts and everywhere Leshia looked stories leapt out at her.

Mila's bed for instance was surrounded by posters of her professional quidditch playing boyfriend and her cluttered nightstand bore pictures of them both together and very much in love. Behind the posters of Luka though were faded ones showing a band that had been in vogue years ago when the young woman was only in first year or a male centrefold the young woman had cut out of her Teen Witch magazine. It was a dormitory that spoke of age and it made Leshia feel immensely sad for Mila and her friends, who had but two terms left at the school before they were set free to fend on their own.

"Sit down," Mila offered cheerily and Leshia took up her offer. She dropped down on the bedspread Mila had brought from home and waited patiently for a hint of what this private discussion might be about. "I'm sure you remember that Joss and I will be going to Australia this term as part of the exchange trip."

For a moment Leshia's eyes went wide. No, she hadn't remembered that fact and quite suddenly she was alarmed. To lose Jocelyn Jones, a fantastically accurate chaser was one thing, but to lose the quidditch captain herself for a term was quite another.

"What's more, Luke and Tom will be heading off to the Americas Institute which only leaves you, Owen and Jaime Wood to keep the team going."

"Oh."

"And I thought that while I was away you could take up the captain's strip. How does that sound?"

"Me? Captain? Shouldn't it be Owen, I mean he is the oldest?"

"Leshia," Mila chuckled. "This is your fourth year on the team and you're by far the best player on the team, even when all team members are accounted for."

Such a big compliment Leshia had been expecting and she rubbed the back of her neck embarrassedly. Mila had always admired and respected Leshia for her modesty and grinned broadly.

"Sorry," she chuckled. "All I'm saying is that I trust you okay Malfoy? I trust you to do what's best for the team. You'll have to hold some trials to get some players to fill our positions till we get back and you'll have to put in a lot of effort and a lot of hours to get everyone up to scratch before you face Hufflepuff in five weeks time." Leshia was nodding slowly, drinking all this in. "But I know you're up to the challenge, or I wouldn't have asked you."

"Okay," the young seeker finally responded and she sounded resolute. "I won't let you down Mila. I promise."

Ten minutes later, after Mila had loaded the girl down with files and files of notes on tactics and manoeuvres and exercises to do in practice Leshia made her way carefully down the flights of stairs till she reached her own dormitory. It was empty and so after unloading the files on top of her trunk she hurried downstairs to find everyone gathering for one last butterbeer before Tom and Luke and their secret stash of the stuff deserted them for the term.

"We should have followed them and found out where they get it from," Leshia told her friends the moment she appeared at their side with a drink in hand.

"Where'd you spring from?" Rachel exclaimed in surprise. She'd spilled half her drink down herself.

"Upstairs. Mila's just made me temporary quidditch captain while she's away."

"Hey that's wonderful news!" Katie cheered, her voice slightly shaky. Leshia's brow lowered in upset and she shuffled over to her friend in the window box and wrapped her arm about her shoulders.

"This place isn't going to be the same without you Katie," she spoke truthfully and earnestly.

"No don't…" Rodeo cried out sounding pained, but then he groaned fondly.

"What? What did I do?"

"Look!" the boy complained happily and he pointed to Katie, who had promptly started crying. "We just got her to stop before you came down."

"Oh," Leshia sniggered and she wrapped her other arm around Katie, who collapsed against her, crying freely. The girl couldn't be consoled and remained in a state the rest of the evening. Saying goodbye to Rodeo brought on a fresh wave of sobs and she clung to the embarrassed boy and the foot of the girls' stairs while Leshia and Rachel said goodbye to Parys. He seemed a miserable thing, though in true Parys fashion was trying to put a brave face on and turn it all into a joke.

"Ow, watch it Rachel that was my foot," he complained when the redhead girl hugged him.

"It was not you liar," she complained in a fierce yet fond tone. She was the same as he was Leshia thought while she watched them. Never would Rachel allow anyone to see how hard it was for her to say goodbye to the boy they all knew she fancied. She too would turn it all into a joke until he came back again, but who was Leshia to say anything of it?

"Hug me back properly Parys," the flame-haired girl complained jovially. "Don't give me a stupid boy hug."

"What the hell is a boy hug?" the tall boy scoffed, though he tightened his arms around the girl and closed his eyes seeming pained.

"You know, when you pat each other on the back awkwardly like this." Rachel demonstrated and Leshia felt she had to look away. Their embrace was lasting as long as Katie and Rodeo's. Though in their case the pain seemed mutual, whereas Katie's was disproportionately higher than the young man she had wrapped herself round.

"Can I hug someone now?" Leshia finally spoke up. She'd been standing on her own for several minutes feeling decidedly like a fifth wheel. Parys and Rachel pulled apart and with a big grin they pulled Leshia into their midst and their hug turned into a three-way embrace. Soon though Leshia was hugging Parys goodbye and then helping Rachel to pry Katie away from Rodeo and lead her upstairs.

It was a turbulent night and no one got very much sleep. Everyone was dreading Katie's alarm from going off, but sure enough four-o clock crept by. The Americas Institute bound pupils would be leaving so as to join their new schoolmates at their dinnertime and had to leave frightfully early to make up for the time difference.

Katie showered and the dressed in silence. The others were awake and fighting back tears, but they didn't come out. Finally though Katie cleared her throat and crept over to first Ashley and then Nicola's beds to say goodbye to them. They were quite tearful and it warmed Katie's heart, who hadn't thought they would notice whether or not she was there. Those two rarely included themselves in the trio's conversations.

Next Katie crept to Rachel's bed and forced herself to be strong. Tears trickled down her cheeks while Rachel held a brave face and tried to turn the situation into a big joke, but failed miserably. When Katie was whispering that she really ought to say goodbye to Leshia and then be on her way she was surprised by a hug from behind. The blonde girl had been far too impatient to wait her turn. Katie laughed through her sobs and turned round so as to hug Leshia properly.

"You'd better behave out there on the other side of the world," Rachel told her cousin through her tears.

"Yeah, Parys will tell us everything you're up to."

"And if you misbehave we won't have you back again."

Katie laughed and finally pulled back from her best friends. They were all crying. She nodded to show she appreciated the joke and then stood up to collect her satchel – her trunk had already disappeared from the foot of her bed. Armed with this the three girls made their way to the portrait hole.

"I don't know how the pair of you are going to manage without me," Katie managed light-heartedly. "You'll be in detention each day, no homework will get done and you'll fall behind in every single lesson."

Her two friends glanced to one another.

"I hadn't thought of that."

"Sounds like bliss," Leshia joked.

"Yeah, you're right. Good riddance Katie, don't let the portrait hit you on the way out."

With this they stepped back and let the portrait close leaving only the muffled half laughter half sobbing from their friend now separated from them. They listened out till her peculiar sounds had all but faded away and then turned on each other with pitiful expressions.

Wordlessly they took each other's hand and sat down on the settee in front of the fire feeling numb. There would be no getting back to sleep now.

"She _will_ be okay won't she?" Leshia finally spoke.

"Of course she will, Luisa will look after her and besides, she's got Parys." Rachel paused for a moment and hung her sad head, before she added softly, "I really wish he hadn't gone you know."

"I know you do. It's just not going to be the same without them."

For a long time the girls stared into the fire, their hands entwined childishly while they both contemplated their misery and felt glad for one another's company. Neither would ever speak of it, but both had the same thoughts. What would they have done if _they_ were separated? Could they have gone through with it?

"Hey Leesh?" Rachel asked suddenly.

"Hmm?"

"Can I be a Beater?" Despite her solemn mood Leshia sniggered and looked up at her best friend.

"Well are you any good?" she teased.

"Yeah! Luke and Tom taught me everything they know."

"Well you'll still have to try out you know," Leshia told the girl fondly, which elicited a feigned exasperated sigh from the freckled girl.

"What's the point in your best friend being quidditch captain if she can't even get you on the team? I mean what is the world coming to I ask you?"

XXX

**End of Part Eight**

Reviewmore please - I mean 18000 words, can I get 18000 reviews:) What do you mean "no"?!

Thirty pages in one day. _Thirty_! I mean come on, that's got to deserve a medal right? And hang on, that's thirty, sixty, um, ninety pages in the last two weeks with all the updating I've been doing!! Well I'm impressed with myself and I don't mind saying it :) You might want to forgive the typos though. Tired fingers, what you gonna do? I will go back and fix them soon, as is my way.

If only I could apply myself in equal measure to my university work. Now that really would make me worthy of a medal.

**Happy New Year everyone! **cue Auld Lang Syne (which to those who don't know is the name of that overused New Years song they play at midnight)

**PS** Thank you to Ylene and Kas who faithfully review each chapter and then make my day by going over to the forum too. There's others too, AuthoressMegz and Ms.Anna to name a couple off the top of my head; your reviews mean the world to me and keep me writing!! So thank you. I'm one of those people who isn't intrinsically motivated, nor truly motivated by money or reward, but give me a good pat on the back and a bit of praise and that's all I need to keep going. There's my expensive degree in psychology working wonders :/ three years at university and the only self-insight I can muster is a pitiful diagnosis of my motivation style. Wonderful...

**PPS**For those of you who are worrying that this story is getting awfully long and non-eventful, we've hit the turning point. For various reasons tied to character development I'll admit this part of the story has been slow going, but it is due to change, I can assure you :) if you could see my week-by-week plan you'd understand

**PPPS** (I will stop after this) I have just realised I have been spelling heel wrong in the phrase 'Turned on heel' through all my stories. So for those who have noticed this mistake, I have corrected it. I learned to write in English relatively late after a life of writing and reading in Dutch, so I often find homophones (two words pronounced the same yet spelled differently) confuse the hell out of me.

Okay, now I'm done. I'm craving human contact I think. Somebody speak to me, please :)


	9. Part Nine

**Generations: Rebel Inside**

**Part IX **

_Dear Rachel and Leesh, _

_ Well! I've just spent my first full day as an Americas Institute pupil and let me tell you, this place is amazing! It's right on the coast and there are palm trees everywhere. The sea is the colour of the sky I swear and the sand is pure white. It's a paradise! Luisa's house is a really friendly one – I'd most compare them to Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff if I really had to, they don't see as crazy as Gryffindor. You know they don't have houses in the same sense we do don't you? They have houses as in buildings. In total I'd say there are ten or eleven. I've only seen a fraction of them. They have communal dining and living areas and a homework room and then the pupils have to share a room with someone else. Luisa's roommate Helena is really nice and they've made me feel really welcome – nothing compares to you two though and I miss you so much. I nearly wanted to turn back my first night, but I'm trying to be brave. Mostly because I know how much the pair of you would laugh if I came home after only two days of being away!_

_ The lessons are all in Spanish; though I've heard some houses have them in Portuguese. I know that makes no difference to you two, but you know me, I like to get my details straight. I've been leant a Translator, which is this strange device that you stick in your ear and whispers the English translation for you. It's not ideal, but at least I can follow what they do._

_ Everything is so different to the way Hogwarts is run. I think the thing that surprises me the most is how new everything is! This school wasn't set up too long ago and the buildings are brand new. It feels more like a holiday than a real three-month chunk of my life and I'm sure the bubble will burst soon, but for now I'm enjoying myself. Parys and I try to meet up as much as possible, but he's in another house across the complex from me and I don't run into him as often as I'd like. There are a few other Hogwarts faces about though, so that eases the homesickness. In fact, there's one just up the corridor from me. Do the pair of you remember Lucy Leech in Ravenclaw? The one who can't smell anything? Well she's being hosted by some of Luisa's friends and we spend a lot of time together. She's no replacement for the pair of you, and come to think of it she spends a horrendously large amount of time sneezing, but she's better than nothing. She's a link to the castle that's actually quite comforting._

_ I don't know if I should really mention this because Leesh, you'll go mad and call me a traitor, but Julius Black's in my adopted House and he's been really nice so far. It makes it so much easier to have someone you can just escape to and have a normal intelligent conversation with. Don't kill me!_

_ I'd better go, I'm supposed to be doing my homework, but felt I had to write you two a letter. I'm sorry I was such a wimp last night…well, what was yesterday morning to you two I suppose. And I miss you so much! I hope you haven't landed yourselves in detention yet._

_ Miss you loads!_

_ Love Katie_

_PS Rachel: don't let Leshia do anything stupid!_

The letter came Wednesday morning over breakfast and for ten minutes Leshia and Rachel craned their heads over Katie's delicate handwriting and drank in everything she had said. They had spent Monday and Tuesday miserably coping without their friend and were so happy to receive her letter that it put them in a good mood for the rest of the day. Leshia even managed to keep her composure over the news that one of her best friend's was consorting with the enemy and she also managed to glaze over Katie's last line, though Rachel rolled her eyes at the message and nodded to herself. What did Katie think she was doing? Putting suggestions in Leshia's mind and egging her on?

After hearing from their friend the two girls felt finally freed from a peculiar curse that had left them lethargic and unable to commit to anything other than moping about the place solemnly. Leshia's first course of action was to put up a sign in Gryffindor common room announcing tryouts for the vacant positions on the Gryffindor team would be held after school the following day. Her next was to go straight to Owen Gabriel and Jaime Wood to ask them to help her at the tryouts. Her decision would of course affect them all and she knew she needed their support. Jaime was easy to find, she and Eliot, her identical sister, were hunched over a Potions textbook in the corner. They seemed happy for the distraction when Leshia interrupted their work to ask for the younger girl's assistance. Jaime of course agreed enthusiastically and so Leshia set off to find the third member of the original Gryffindor team.

Owen was more difficult to find, but eventually Leshia managed to track one of the boy's best friends down who informed her Owen had landed himself in detention with Professor Malfoy. Intrigued, Leshia overcame her shyness around Dan – whom she knew had never warmed to her, though she didn't know why – to ask him more,

"What did he do?"

"What Owen? Nothing," the young man replied brusquely. "Your old man doesn't need a reason to keep Owen behind. He's got it in for him."

Leshia felt a prickle of anger in her spine and gave the older boy a severe look.

"My dad's not in the habit of bullying people, Owen must have done something."

"You know what? You're right. He did do something, he got involved with you and your dad's never got over it. Owen should've listened to us and stayed well clear of you."

With this the young man sauntered off leaving Leshia glaring at him furiously. How dare he talk to her like that? What had she ever done? The Eye on her branded hand started itching, forcing Leshia to calm herself down, but she still felt very hard done by and misunderstood. With a sigh she made her way back to the common room where Rachel, Rodeo, Nicola and Ashley were slouched down on a settee by the fire, deep in discussion about an essay Professor McGonagall had set them in Transfiguration. It was due in the following day and as of yet none of them had even started it. The departure of Katie and Parys had hit them all harder than they'd realised and the raven-haired girl's prediction of their failing in her absence was becoming all too painful a reality.

As Leshia stalked in her friends could see the thunderous look on her face, but even if they hadn't they could not have ignored the exasperated noise she let out when she dropped down on the armrest beside Rodeo.

"Something the matter?" the boy asked with a small smile.

"I hate Owen's friend! He's such a pillock."

"Why? What happened?" Rachel now asked worriedly.

"That twat Dan was having a go at my dad and saying Owen should have never made friends with me. Just because his little boyfriend Paul's buggered off to Salem doesn't mean he has to take it out on me. Ugh, look it doesn't matter. What are you slackers up to anyway?"

Sensing the girl had no desire to further the conversation her friends let her drop it and explained their lack of progress on trying to get started on their essay. Leshia offered them little inspiration however; as she hadn't even remembered they had an essay to do. Grimly, the fourth years resigned themselves to the fact that they would be pulling an all-nighter and sloped off to the library before dinner.

"What d'you reckon Kate's up to right now?" Rachel asked Leshia as the pair of them skirted ahead of the rest on the way. The blonde girl shrugged her shoulders.

"Probably tucked up in bed dreaming about homework."

"You do know this is the first time we're going to the library without her?"

"Yeah I know. Feels weird doesn't it. I never though I'd see the day when you and me actually went in there voluntarily without Katie dragging us in by our ears."

"Hey let's write her a letter back before we start working."

Leshia thought it a grand idea and as soon as the fourth years had settled themselves down with a mountain of transfiguration textbooks Leshia and Rachel bent over a new roll of parchment.

_Katie!_

_ It's Rachel; you've got to come back! It's only been three days, but already all hell's broken loose. I've already failed every single piece of homework they've set and have forgotten how to get dressed in the morning. I just sort of wander about in my pyjamas, you can imagine how well that went down in Defence Against the Dark Arts._

_ Tripper's got Leesh trapped in a cage under his desk because she set his head on fire in Monday's lesson. Before he could get hold of her though she was on the run and managed to snog about half the boys in the school before she was finally brought down with one of the Unforgivable curses, I forget which is which. Anyway, her head split open (it was disgusting, who knew Leshia had so much brains?!) and Tripper did a botch job in fixing her up. One of her eyes is still missing, we've got some first years looking for it, but we suspect Mrs Norris has made off with it._

_ Rodeo's going out with a first year from Slytherin. We think she's got him under some sort of spell seeing as she's about two foot tall, three foot fat and has a face like a donkey's bottom (like an ass' arse…haha, sorry). They're often seen snogging in the corridors. If you ever need to find him you just follow the trail of vomit. Ashley and Nicole on the other hand have started a betting shop in our dormitory. I'm not sure what they're betting on, I'm too scared to ask, but every night this week I've gone to bed with the noise of hoards of upper-years cheering and shouting from their four-posters. _

_ I had no idea how much you held this place together! So I don't care how much fun you're having, come home now before Leesh loses it and ends up Tripper's one-eyed pet forever, I get kicked out of school for indecent exposure, Rodeo marries some hideous Slytherin troll and Ash and Nic end up in Azkaban for…whatever it is they're doing._

_ Love Rachel_

_PS You do know we're joking right? We're all fine, there's nothing to worry about, we miss you!_

With their letter crafted and everyone still smiling from the good laugh they'd all enjoyed Rachel folded the letter up and sealed it. With this in hand she and Leshia ran off to deliver it before joining their friends to get down to some proper work. En route back to the library though Rachel worriedly confided to her friend that she was a little concerned Katie might be half way back to the castle before she got to the last line of the letter. Shamefully, both Leshia and Rachel could only hope that this were true and that Katie might return to them, if only for a few hours.

XXX

Come dinnertime Leshia finally caught sight of Owen Gabriel, though he was sat next to Dan, who she was giving a wide berth and an icy glare for his rudeness. Afterwards however, the tall young man caught up to her on their way back to Gryffindor tower.

"Shorty! I hear you were after me earlier."

Leshia spun round to find her friend falling into step beside her. His friend was walking along with the other fifth year boys a way off watching them with unreadable expressions.

"Yeah, I was." After staring back at Dan pointedly the girl faced the front once more.

"What's wrong? Has something happened?"

"No, nothing. Just been a weird day. It was actually about the quidditch trials. I've put up an announcement in the common room. I thought we could hold them tomorrow after school. Is that okay with you?" Owen smiled with a shrug.

"What're you asking me for? You're the captain," he replied genially.

"Yeah, but I still need you there. And Jaime! We're a team and Mila only picked me because she had to pick someone and I'd been there the longest, so…"

The girl trailed off shyly, feeling embarrassed to be having this discussion. Owen though started laughing and he nudged the girl a little sending her off balance.

"Don't be an idiot Malfoy, she picked you because she thought you'd be good at it. I mean did you think me an Jay Wood were sat there bawling our eyes out because Mila picked you over us?"

Leshia blushed furiously.

"No!"

"Well good, because I think you'll do a great job." Feeling relieved, Leshia nodded.

"So you'll be there?"

"With bells on. Hey what happened between you and Dan earlier?" The blonde girl looked up sharply at her friend, but then quickly hid her irritated expression under a suave one.

"Nothing, why what did he say happened?"

"He hasn't said anything, but you've been glaring at him all evening so I'm guessing something happened," the tall boy chuckled.

"I don't know what you mean. Why were you in detention with my dad?"

"Why so many questions?" Owen was avoiding the issue and Leshia knew it.

"Hey you were the one that…" Her retort was interrupted by the tall boy feigning an elaborate yawn and stretch, before he looked at his watch obviously.

"Oh look at the time, I've got to go see a man about a dog. You stay out of trouble okay?" With this he ruffled the girl's hair and slunk back to his year mates. Leshia watched him go with an amused smirk before she ran to catch up with her own friends to tell them that she had her daily meeting with Tripper to get to before she could join them in the library once more. Though the regular arrangements had never been gruelling due to Draco's presence capping any of Tripper's crueller and more invasive questions, Leshia still hated reporting to the vile man. Then there was the matter of her having come across him in a peculiar state down Piffle Street in the holidays. The girl was constantly afraid that he would suddenly recall seeing her that day and then she knew she'd be in for it. Which was worse, a thrilling night of transfiguration madness or her routine interrogation, Leshia couldn't decide.

"I'm off to Tripper's for my thing, I'll meet you lot in the library when I'm finished," the girl informed her friends when she reached their sides. The others wished her luck and with this Leshia hurried off. It wasn't a long walk to Tripper's study, though she was conscious of the fact that she was a little late. She knew from experience that her father always arrived ten minutes before the arranged time to forestall any possible chance for Tripper to get his daughter alone, but when Leshia was late she worried terribly that she'd find the two men locked in the duel they'd been so wishing to enter into.

After a brisk walk Leshia reached the Ancient Runes study and she knocked heavily on the door. It took only a few moments to open and when it did the girl wished quite suddenly that it hadn't. There stood Tripper, a twisted smile on his face, while behind him lay his empty office.

"Where's my dad?" Leshia asked indignantly.

"Not here. Evidently. Tardiness must be another Malfoy trait I see. Go on, get in, you've wasted enough of my time as it is."

"But we have to wait till he gets here," the girl countered forcibly, her eyes wide and her Eye itching.

"We have to do no such thing. Get inside this office this instant or I will count it as an act of contempt." The man seemed unusually deranged and wild and for a moment Leshia wondered what might happen should she refuse. Her father had told her in the past that by no means ought she undergo an interrogation alone, but Tripper had powers Leshia couldn't refuse. What if he was right? What if he used her reluctance against her?

With a heavy sigh the girl stepped into the office and took her usual chair behind the messy desk. A stab of remorse wracked her wary mind for a moment when she thought back to the days when her mother's things had filled this room. Inexorably, her eyes started stinging and the girl was overcome with a powerful feeling of wanting her mother. The Eye burned briefly in response to her heightened emotions bringing Leshia back to the present in time to meet Tripper's eye as he took his seat behind his desk. He was wearing a cruel smile, as though he had been waiting for this moment for a long time, which of course, he had.

The man set up his instruments to record the proceedings quicker than usual and took great pleasure in announcing the cause for the interrogation and the name of his victim. Across the table Leshia's heart started racing.

'Just stay calm and don't let him wind you up,' she ordered herself privately. 'It's just like any other meeting.'

"Miss Malfoy I am obliged to remind you not to lie," Tripper finally spoke hurriedly, his warning evidently a matter of protocol and barely louder than a whisper. When he next spoke however, he seemed empowered, "What happened on the thirty-first of December that warranted an emergency sanction by the Minister of Aurors?"

Leshia blinked in surprise at the question.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. There was an incident. You _will_ tell me what happened."

For a moment the teenager stared coldly into the cruel man's eyes. He had evidently been kept in the dark where her excursion to find her grandfather was concerned, but why this was the case she didn't know. More to the point, what would he do if she told him the truth?

"You're right," she eventually replied diplomatically. "There was an incident, but Mrs Hirsch dealt with it. It's a confidential matter sir."

Tripper bristled angrily and his eyes fell to the Eye on Leshia's hand, which hadn't so much as glowed or even caused a twinge of pain to the girl. She was acting within her rights and speaking truthfully after all.

"Well I demand to know what it is. As your assigned Ministry Official I have a right to know every detail of this enquiry."

"Then why hasn't anybody told you what happened yet?" She was treading on thin ice and what's more Leshia knew it, but she couldn't allow the vile man to bully her into something she was under no obligation to explain, particularly as it might be just the evidence he needed to lock her away.

"How dare you?" Tripper bellowed feverishly. "Don't forget who you're dealing with girl. One wrong move and you're finished. Now tell me. What happened on the thirty-first of December?"

Leshia chewed the insides of her cheeks and slouched back in her chair; she was finally getting the measure of Silas Tripper. Yes he had powers and privileges, but they didn't extend as far as she'd first thought.

"I met with Mrs Hirsch sir and she dealt with the…"

"Enough!" Tripper slammed his fist down on the desk and rose slightly out of his chair. "Do you realise what I could to you Malfoy? _Do_ you?" The air rang with his anger and Leshia leant heavily back into her chair, her eyes never leaving the livid ones of Silas Tripper. She was afraid. "Too long I have waited to lock you away! Too long have I waited for my deserved revenge!"

"Sir?" the girl uttered in confusion. Surely he wasn't talking about her? Tripper panted for a moment while he trembled. His dark greasy hair had fallen into his scarred face giving the impression he had escaped from the Repaired Brains ward at St Mungos that Leshia had frequented in her third year after a particularly nasty accident. The pair stared one another down, until the eerie silence was broken by a heavy knock on the door. Leshia spun around in her seat, her eyes hopeful for the distraction. Tripper however, didn't move and after a minute had passed the knocker knocked again.

Dejectedly Tripper dropped into his chair.

"Yes?" he called out hoarsely. Within seconds the door swung open revealing the intimidating form of the person Leshia had been most anxious to see. For a moment Draco stared at the scene in front of him, his eyes lingering on his daughter's frightened face, before he stared heavily at his nemesis.

"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded, striding across the room to stand beside his child. Protectively he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I don't know what you mean," Tripper croaked.

"You told me our meeting was to be held at half past."

"He told me to be here at nine," Leshia spoke up indignantly. Draco glanced down at the girl briefly before he fixed a dangerous glare on the vile man slouched in the chair behind the desk.

"A mix up, evidently," Tripper growled. An unspoken battle was taking place in the significant glares the men were casting each other, leaving Leshia out of the loop.

"This meeting is now over."

"I will decide if and when…"

"You have twenty seconds to ask my daughter your damn questions and then we're leaving. Is that understood?" Leshia shuddered inwardly at the deathly tone of voice her father had used and wondered how on earth Tripper had the strength to resist it. It would seem though that on this occasion the vile man would forego his pride and let Draco win.

"Have you been engaged in any dark or suspicious activity since our meeting yesterday?" he asked cantankerously.

"No sir."

As soon as the words escaped her mouth Draco leaned down and hoisted his daughter to her feet from under her arm. Wordlessly he steered her out the room and slammed the door behind them without a glance back at the seething man behind the desk. Leshia didn't dare speak while he led her back to Gryffindor tower, for her father seemed angrier than she had seen him in a long time. Finally though they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady where Leshia turned on Draco and hugged him firmly about the chest.

"Thanks for rescuing me."

"You shouldn't have gone in without me," her father countered brusquely.

"Like he gave me a choice!"

"From now on," the tall man continued, hardly heeding Leshia's defence. "We have to coordinate better you and I. Agreed?" Draco loosened the girl's arms from around his chest and pushed her away by the shoulders to see the girl nod firmly and answer,

"Yes."

"What did he ask you?"

"He was asking about what happened at New Years. No one's told him and he wanted me to, but I wouldn't and he got mad and started acting loopy." A small smile etched onto Draco's stern face.

"I'm sorry I let this happen." He seemed so wounded and angry with himself that Leshia's face crumpled a little.

"Don't be an idiot. I'm fine aren't I?"

"Well that's arguable."

"Oy!" Playfully Leshia shoved her father, but he was standing firm and the girl managed to launch herself off instead. Draco couldn't suppress his laughter when she stumbled backwards.

"You stay out of trouble young lady."

"I will dad."

"Glad to hear it."

Amusedly the tall man reached out to ruffle the girl's hair before he started backing away down the corridor. Leshia watched him go before she dashed inside Gryffindor tower to collect her Transfiguration books and make her way to the library. While she rushed to meet her friends she couldn't help but think what might have happened had her father not come to her rescue. After picturing all manner of gruesome scenarios she contemplatively whispered to herself,

"What would I do without him?"

XXX

"How much sleep did you get last night?" Rodeo asked through a massive yawn, as he and the fourth year girls met up in the great hall. They all seemed exhausted, but tucked safely away in their satchels lay their finished transfiguration essays. Though the contents were dubious, at least they were complete, suggesting detention had been held at bay for a day longer.

"About two hours," Leshia replied grimly. At her side Rachel was incapable of speech and hung her head tiredly instead. Rodeo rubbed the back of his neck and yawned once more. "You?

"Same. I'm happy we haven't got anyone evil today. I'm pretty sure I won't make it past break without falling asleep."

"If you can make it till after lunch we've got history of magic," Leshia suggested tiredly. Rodeo seemed pained at having to wait so long for a well-earned nap. The short girl noticed and cast the boy a fond smile. "Trelawney probably wouldn't notice if you collapsed in the back of her lesson. I'm not even sure she can see to the back of the classroom."

"When've we got divination again?"

"After Herbology."

"Which is when?"

"Rodes we've had the same timetable for a whole term and you still haven't got a clue when anything is?"

"Yeah. And? What's your point? I'd always sort of follow Parys around, but since he's buggered off you're going to have to take his place. Deal with it." The young man was smiling tiredly, but Leshia elbowed him playfully.

"And what if I refuse?"

"Like you could get away from me."

"Do you two have to talk so loudly?" Rachel finally spoke, her voice hoarse and her expression fierce.

"We can talk louder if you want?" Leshia teased, raising her voice in the redhead's direction and earning a not-so-playful wallop in the stomach from her grumpy friend. "Okay, okay! We'll keep it down. Jeez Rach, I'm starting to believe you'd make a pretty brutal beater."

Despite her tiredness Rachel smiled and allowed herself to be eased slightly out of her mood. By the time the three friends had yawned their way through breakfast and a fun-filled charms lesson they were all in higher spirits. They were sure to need them, as McGonagall had a difficult lesson planned for her fourth Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. The moment the teenagers took their seats the stern witch turned her probing gaze on them and spoke expectantly,

"Your homework please."

The class soon complied and within moments parchments were flying across the room to the awaiting teacher's desk, where they stacked neatly in a pile ready to be marked. Leshia held onto hers a little longer, feeling wary of its quality. She wasn't accustomed to underachieving, but supposed it was something she was going to have to get used to without Katie present to crack the whip.

"Today's lesson," McGonagall spoke loudly over the quiet chatter that had broken out in the wake of the flight of the essays. "Will be a practical session and will involve complicated magic. So I do hope you are ready to listen and learn fourth years."

The old teacher's twinkling eyes flicked momentarily to the sleepy Gryffindors, before she turned her back on the class to face the blackboard, which she turned over to reveal a series of complicated diagrams showing a hamster being transfigured into an eagle. A smattering of discerning grumbles rippled through the class at the prospect of so complicated a transfiguration. Turning arms into wings, fur into feathers, small into large, mouth into beak…it was no mean feat.

Leshia found herself missing Katie's presence increasingly throughout McGonagall's gruelling explanation as to how they were to achieve this difficult piece of wandwork. Even concentrating without the raven-haired girl's ever-constant warnings to behave was difficult and when the ageing witch lifted a cage of small grey rodents onto her desk Leshia felt certain her attempts at transforming a sweet innocent hamster could only end in misery.

Upon being invited to collect one Leshia pushed herself to her feet tiredly and followed her peers to collect one of the creatures. The other girls in the class were cooing over the darling animals, while their male friends were pretending not to find them equally as sweet, yet failing miserably. By the time Leshia came to the cage, the only animals left were the ones who had thus far been impossible to catch resulting in the girl spending a good few minutes trying to pin one of the blighters down until finally, with a squirming creature in her hand she returned to her desk near the back of the classroom.

"How am I meant to transfigure the damn thing if it won't stay still?" she grumbled after trying to set the hamster down on the desk.

"What are you talking about?" Rachel countered her best friend with a big smile on her face. "It's easy, look."

Leshia did look and caught sight of a fat round ball of fluff curled over itself motionless on her friend's desk most definitely asleep.

"Well you had to pick the fattest most lazy one didn't you? Want to swap?"

"Not on your life."

"Spoilsport," Leshia grumbled, before she turned her wand point on the squirming creature in her hand. The girl's first attempt wasn't too bad, her hamster, which she had nicknamed Squirmy, had doubled in size and grown feathers, wings and a beak, but still seemed more reminiscent of a rodent than a mighty bird if that were possible. Feeling unperturbed by her failure she untransfigured the animal and tried again, but just as she was performing the last piece of tricky magic Squirmy made a bolt for freedom.

"Ugh! Leesh what's that?" Rachel cried out grimly when she glanced over to see the abominable result of the miscast spell. Squirmy was no longer a hamster and no longer an animal in fact. Just what he was wasn't quite clear, though the fact that he was disgusting and producing a vile stench was.

"That's what happens when certain little rodents don't keep still when I'm trying to transfigure them, that's what it is," Leshia replied with feigned bitterness, though she quickly set the creature to rights. The hamster had the good grace to look startled and when Leshia placed him on her desk he huddled over. "That's more like it."

The very next go Leshia succeeded and where one moment her desk had held a frightened little furball, the next it had become a perch for a beautiful grand eagle.

"Ah well done Miss Malfoy!" Professor McGonagall called out to the first successful student in the class. "Five points to Gryffindor. I hadn't expected any of you to succeed so soon. Please, if you will, bring the eagle over to this cage and you can start on the written work."

Feeling punished rather than rewarded Leshia wiled away the rest of the lesson pretending to work whenever McGonagall looked in her direction, while her friends enjoyed the rest of the practical session. By the end of the session most of the rodents had been transformed into grand eagles. Here and there a rather sorry looking bird still sported a set of whiskers or a coat of fur, but for the most part the class had risen to the occasion. So impressed was their teacher that she refrained from setting them the homework she had planned for the weekend and even let them leave five minutes before break. Leshia and Rachel couldn't believe their luck and soon they were ambling out into the brisk January morning with their robes pulled tightly around their bodies.

"What time are the quidditch trials later on?" Rachel inquired once they had found a secluded stone bench near the lake to sprawl on.

"Rach sometimes I wonder if you ever listen to a word I say."

"That's not fair. I mean sometimes I do."

"Yeah well maybe I should teach you a lesson and not tell you." The redhead cocked an eyebrow at her shorter friend, her face contorted in amusement and worry.

"Then you'd be without a star beater. You know that right? I mean I'm just putting it out there." Leshia's face remained serious.

"I don't know Rach, I mean I need a beater I can count on." The pair sat in silence for a few moments while Rachel tried to settle her pounding heart in order to work out whether her best friend was earnestly trying to snub her.

"You know just so I know, we are kidding right now aren't we?"

"Are we?" A sliver of a smile crept onto Leshia's pretty face and after sighing in relief Rachel shoved the tiny girl.

"Leesh! Don't be so harsh. I thought you were blimming serious for a second there."

"Well try and be a bit more on the ball would you? I happen to think you stand a chance at getting on the team, but what're people going to say if you don't show up with your head screwed on tight?"

"Well they'd probably send me up to the hospital wing, get Madam Pomfry to fix me up." Leshia groaned exasperatedly, though there was a broad smile on her face as she did so.

"Not even Madam Pomfry could fix you up Rach."

XXX

Tryouts came quicker than Leshia would have liked. She spent the last part of the day frantically scribbling notes on different exercises she was going to have the hopefuls do and felt very unprepared when the designated time crept up on her. Thankfully Professor Lewis was quite unaware of what the young Gryffindor was up to and she managed to avoid landing herself in trouble.

When eventually the last bell of the day rang out across the castle corridors Leshia felt a prickle of nerves shoot down her spine. After spending her entire quidditch career in the shadows of two inspiring leaders she was going to have to step forward and attempt to emulate their success. That she felt she wasn't ready for such a challenge wasn't surprising, as unless the subject be flying or trouble-making Leshia's estimations of her own abilities were always so remarkably low. And as she trudged down towards the supplies shed next to the quidditch pitch the girl felt her captain had made a critical error in assigning her the leader's strip.

Owen and Jaime were true to their word and soon after Leshia herself had arrived and started laying out the equipment she needed for the trials the pair joined in. They had none of the blonde girl's worry and worked along to a playful banter that Leshia simply couldn't commit to. She would relax, but only upon returning to the castle, her job done and her team selected.

"Shorty where do you want these?" Owen's cheery call came. Leshia glanced up from the bag of bludgers she was trying to contain and noticed the tall boy was rather lumbered down with marker buoys.

"They should be stationed in a zigzag about thirty feet up," she replied with a smile.

"Righto. Endurance flying is it? You know not everyone was born riding a broom."

"What are you suggesting?" the newly appointed captain jeered with an affronted smile.

"I'm just saying, keep your expectations realistic. Not everyone flies the way you do." There was a great admiration in Owen's voice that soothed Leshia's temper at his words. Of course she was going to be realistic. She hadn't intended to set the hopefuls tasks that saw them plummeting hundreds of feet towards the ground dodging through obstacles on their way down.

"Better not get out the ring of fire then," the girl sighed eliciting a drain-like laugh from her companion.

"Oy, you two! Cut the flirting, they're coming." Jaime's call roused a slight disgruntled frown from Leshia, but she couldn't ignore the trickle of Gryffindors coming towards the stadium across the grounds. As quickly as they could the trio finished setting up the equipment in time for the two-dozen youngsters to arrive. Seeing their bright and expectant faces made Leshia squirm a little; she was going to have to disappoint a large number of them.

At the front of the queue stood Rachel and Rodeo, a broom under each of their arms and a beater's bat hanging from the red-head's hand. Leshia caught their eye and grinned momentarily before she faced the group at large. All eyes were on her and for a moment she didn't quite know how to proceed.

"Um shorty? This is your cue me thinks," a quiet whisper sounded behind the girl and as though she had been jolted by a spark Leshia jumped into action.

"Thanks for coming. It's great to see so many of you taking an interest in the team. You probably all know, but we've only got four spaces available. We're after two beaters and two chasers, so if you've come for anything other than those positions then I'm afraid we won't be able to help."

"What if we turn out better than one of you?" a cheeky demand came from the crowd. Leshia caught eyes with the freckled offender of the call for a moment before she shrugged her shoulders.

"Well you're more than welcome to challenge us I suppose. Any takers?" An amused murmur went through the crowds while they eyes up the seeker and keeper at the front of the pack. Take on Alecia Malfoy or Owen Gabriel at quidditch? No chance! A grin grew on Leshia's face and she started to feel her confidence growing. These people were here at her invitation, she knew what a good chaser or beater looked like, as she'd worked with and played against a fair few in her time; why shouldn't she do well in her new position?

"Right then, the tryouts are going to take place in three parts. First we'll test the general flying ability of all of you before we move into separate chaser and beater trials. Are there any questions so far?"

There were a surprisingly large amount of inquiries into what was to be done if they didn't have their own broom, how long the trials were going to take, when they were going to find out the results, what were they going to do about uniforms, when practice took place and every other obscure topic Leshia hadn't considered. She hadn't their questions well though and within no time she had set the hopefuls to task in lining up on their brooms behind the levitating obstacle course Owen had set up.

For the next twenty minutes she and her team mates made notes on the progress of the hopefuls and when all had completed the flying ability test and were given a moment to take a break the three had almost made up their minds on their four favourites.

"Your mates, Rodeo and Rachel, they're great flyers," Jaime insisted. The three team mates had sat down on the grass a little way off the others and were leaning over their notes.

"I agree," Owen affirmed, though it looked as though it had pained him to suggest Rodeo was good at anything other than being a pain in the neck. "That guy in third year, William Lloyd, he's alright too."

"What Will?" Jaime interrupted. "You think? He seemed to wobble a bit on the last cone."

"He had just been racing through the course at a cracking pace though," Owen countered. "It's a wonder he stayed on the bleeding thing. What do you think Malfoy?" Leshia consulted her notes before she looked up and shrugged.

"I've got him down as one to watch. What's he trying out for?"

"Chaser."

"He might do as a chaser, he's quick. What about Magnus Black?" Leshia had very carefully spoken the words, trying to keep any hostility out of her tone when she mentioned the name of her nemesis' brother. In truth there wasn't a doubt in Leshia's mind that the sweet younger brother of the Slytherin she couldn't stand was a shoe-in on her team, as he had flown the course in the quickest time with the most stealth, but she wanted to gauge her friends' opinions before she started making assertions.

"Yeah he was wicked!" Jaime agreed. "See how he does with a bat and then sign him up I'd say."

The hopefuls were getting restless and so after one final check of one another's notes the three team mates took to their feet and started straight away with the chaser trials. Leshia watched Rodeo with keen interest as he performed superbly and she couldn't help but smile at the irritated little utterances that were wafting towards her from Owen's general direction.

After the fifteen would-be-chasers had demonstrated their abilities it was the beaters turn and Leshia watched with a more intense honesty when Rachel took to the sky. To her utmost relief her best friend performed better than all those who had come before her and she flew down towards the ground again the pair of girls met one another's eyes and a smile passed between them. Rachel knew she had done well. Magnus Black too performed extraordinarily well, though Leshia was aware that she might have been favouring him more than she might had he not gone straight after the tiny girl who had hurled a bludger at the judges and nearly knocked Owen off his broom.

Finally the trials were over and after flying gently back down to the ground Leshia congratulated all the hopefuls and explained to them that she would post a notice in the common room after dinner detailing who had been successful. With this she dismissed her peers who all trudged back to the castle chattering amongst themselves about their highs and lows of the experience leaving Leshia, Owen and Jaime to clear away the equipment.

"Weasley, Holsson, Black and Lloyd, that's where my votes lie," Owen announced as soon as the last of the hopefuls had disappeared over the rise up to the castle. Jaime looked up and nodded thoroughly.

"Yeah, I agree. Leesh, what did you think?"

Leshia grinned and sighed with relief at the ease these tryouts had unfolded with. Everything had gone according to plan and to top it all off, she felt very secure in her appointment of the four players she had in mind as her team mates had obviously seen their worth also.

"You two read my mind. I'll put up the announcement later."

XXX

"Oh come on Leesh! Can't you just tell us? Did we make it?" Rachel whined as Leshia led the way back to the common room after dinner. She was quite ready to curse her best friend and then remove her name from the notice she had folded up in her pocket and ready t stick on the notice board. Rachel hadn't let up since the newly appointed captain returned to the common room and after a few hours badgering Leshia had had enough.

"You're about to find out in two bloody minutes Rachel! Now stop pestering me."

"You're being such a harpie, you know that?"

"Rachel!"

"Just tell me!"

After an incredibly frustrated sigh Leshia sped up, reaching the Fat Lady before any of her peers where she veritably spat the password at an extremely bemused portrait, which swung open slowly in spite. Once she'd reached the common room Leshia pulled the notice from her pocket, unfolded it and stabbed it up on the notice board with four pins. All around her curious Gryffindors had stopped to look and even as she was making a quick escape to meet Tripper for her daily meeting Leshia hears the disappointed grumbles of those who hadn't made it. Had she not been so furious at Rachel, then she might have felt sorry for them.

XXX

"Did you hear? Leshia Malfoy put two of her best friends on the team?"

"D'you reckon they're any good?"

"What do you think? Probably not as good as some of the others. Bet she only did it because they're her friends."

"I'm not sure, she takes her quidditch pretty seriously."

"It's favouritism. End of."

Leshia lifted her head and scowled at the two Ravenclaws sat a little way along in the library. Either they were entirely engrossed in their own gossiping to notice her or they simply didn't care that the Gryffindor captain could hear their grumbling, but Leshia had long since grown tired of these rumours that had been circulating the school since her list had gone up. It was Saturday morning and first practice was taking place that afternoon. She's already caught wind of the fact that a whole crowd of pupils were coming to watch in order to see if Leshia had unfairly given her friends preference.

"Do you mind?" the girl spoke up angrily, her grey eyes focused on the gossiping Ravenclaws. The two girls bolted upright, their embarrassed eyes wide in alarm. Evidently they hadn't seen the small Gryffindor buried behind her mountain of Runes books. "Some of us are trying to work."

"Leshia we're so…"

"Just keep it down will you?"

The two mortified girls returned silently to their work allowing Leshia to do the same. She was struggling with her latest Runes essay and was having to get through it on her own as Rachel had landed herself in rather sticky situation with Professor Snape. Her napping in his lessons had become more pronounced as of late due to the horrendous workload the fourth years were having to struggle by with, particularly those in Professor Tripper's class. Without Katie to help them Leshia was amazed she and Rachel had even survived the week.

By the time lunch time had arrived Leshia had made a little progress. So it was a big smile that she made her way down to the great hall and found a place next to Rodeo on the bench.

"Rach not back yet?" The boy at her side sniggered.

"Caught sight of Snape leading her towards the forest. Don't reckon she'll be back anytime soon. So you ready for practice?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well you know we're getting an audience don't you?"

"Oh yeah, that." Leshia sighed and rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. In truth she was terrified that people would leave the pitch feeling their gossiping and their rumours had been vindicated and that yes, Alecia Malfoy had been found guilty of favouritism. She knew she had picked rightly, but what if everybody underperformed due to nerves?

"Don't worry Leesh, when they see us play, they'll be queuing up to apologise to all of us."

"Thanks Rodes," the blonde girl managed with a smile and for a moment her nerves calmed down a little. "Don't see what I'm worried about anyway. They'll all be watching you. I could just sit back on my broom and watch the show."

"Yeah that's what you think, but they'll be judging you as captain more than anything else."

Thankfully Rachel's flustered arrival managed to push Rodeo's recent revelation from Leshia's mind and the redhead's angry ranting and raving about the hook-nosed potions master served as enough of a distraction to ensure the thoughts didn't return till the moment Leshia led the team down to the quidditch pitch to find half the school had turned up.

"Bloody brilliant," she grumbled to herself before she dropped the crate of balls she was carrying onto the floor.

"Blimey," Rachel uttered at her side sounding a little awe-struck. "Are they here to watch us?"

"They're vultures, ignore them and play like you did in tryouts. Soon they'll get bored and find something else to do with their time," Leshia told the newcomers to the team firmly. Her nerves were trickling away making way for protective anger over her newly assorted team members. This was _her_ team and she wouldn't let anyone say a bad word about them.

"Oh so we're boring are we?" Rachel piped up, a small cocky smile on her anxious face. Leshia glowered at her playfully.

"Shall we?" As one the seven players rose to the air and burst into a terrifically fast set of warm up laps. By the time they'd done ten rounds the team came to an impromptu stop that was followed by a curious silence. The Gryffindors had flown well, there was no denying that.

For the following hour Leshia led the way through drill after drill putting her new team to the test and producing very pleasing results. Yes a few quaffles were dropped and a few bludgers sent astray, but all in all the team performed outstandingly resulting in a tremendous cheer from the crowds. Feeling ecstatic that she had been vindicated Leshia would have liked to have continued to the practice, but quite out of a nowhere a lightning storm crept over the grounds towards the pitch resulting in a speedy exit by the pupils gathered on and around the stands. Even Leshia wasn't foolhardy enough to play during a lightning storm.

Inside the apologetic glances the Gryffindors received from their peers left them all on a high and it was with this frame of mind that Leshia and Rachel tackled and conquered their impossibly difficult Runes assignment.

"Thanks Leesh," Rachel spoke finally, once she had checked the spelling in her essay for any stray 'v's where there oughtn't be any.

"For what?" the blonde girl asked curiously, while she too scanned her finished work for mistakes.

"For letting me on the team."

"Oh shove off, you're as bad as they are. You're on the team Rach because you should be on the team. I wasn't doing you any favours and I wouldn't have picked you if you hadn't been good enough." Rachel wrinkled her brow.

"Really? You wouldn't?" The girls met one another's eyes and for a moment a glimmer of a smirk appeared on Leshia's face. What could she say? She was very happy Rachel had performed excellently, because in truth, she didn't know what she would have done. This was enough of a display of loyalty for Rachel, who smiled broadly and looked back to her work.

"Bugger," she finally grumbled.

"What's that?"

"Victorious. It's not spelt with a 'w' is it?"

XXX

Leshia stared at the wisp of white smoke coming out the end of her wand. She had focused so hard on her happiest memories that finally, after uttering the incantation a whisper of her patronus had finally shown itself. Desperately the young girl tried to see a shape amidst the swirling whiteness, where form had shown itself in those of her friends, but she saw nothing and after ignoring the burning in her hand she couldn't avoid it any longer and she dropped her hand painfully.

'Damn Eye,' she grumbled inwardly. Across the classroom Draco had spotted his daughter's success and was en route to congratulate her when suddenly a ghost-like shimmering badger jumped onto the table beside Leshia's. While Draco slowed down and stared in surprise at the fully formed Patronus everyone in class turned to look as well.

"Well done Miss Weasley!" Draco finally managed. "Ten points to Gryffindor. That is one of the best Patronuses I've seen for a witch at your level of experience. What on earth were you thinking about?"

Rachel hung her head a little and her cheeks glowed brightly.

"I don't really want to say sir," she finally managed eliciting a smile from the dichotic teacher.

"Very well, I won't force it out of you. I wonder if any of your peers can succeed with their patronuses. Remember, this is our last practical lesson on this subject before your test on Monday, so search deep inside yourself for those happy memories and thoughts and see what you can come up with."

Draco moved now across the classroom leaving Leshia staring at Rachel with a peculiar frown set into her forehead. So rarely did her friends out-perform her that it left her reeling. How unfair it was that she be branded so cruelly with a magical device rendering her incapable of deep powerful positive magic.

'I hate you,' she thought to herself miserably. 'I really hate you.'

"Leesh. Leshia! Stop glaring at me." The blonde girl shook herself out of her reverie and looked straight into Rachel's concerned eyes. "What have I done?"

"Sorry?"

"Well it's just you've been glaring at me like I'm something nasty stuck to the bottom of your shoe. What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing, sorry, I was just thinking about this." Pathetically the girl lifted her singed hand and flashed the vile Eye at her best friend. "It doesn't let me do Patronuses very well." Rachel nodded humbly, feeling a little awkward at succeeding so spectacularly when her usually competent friend had floundered. Leshia realised and she felt worse for having ruined Rachel's moment. "So it was a badger was it?"

"Yeah, I wonder what that means?"

"Maybe it's because you like living in dark holes underground?" Rachel sniggered.

"More like I'm cunning and graceful and wise." For a moment the two girls met one another's eyes before they both burst into giggles.

"Yeah yeah Rach, I bet that's it. So um, what were you thinking about?" Rachel once more blushed bright red and glanced around to see if anyone was listening in to their conversation. "Come on Rach, you can tell me."

"I know I can. Just not here."

"Well write it down then."

Rachel sighed heavily and tore a corner of parchment off her notes. She paused for a moment and looked up to meet Leshia's inquisitive eyes before she scribbled a word down on the parchment and hurriedly passed it across to her best friend. Everyone was far too distracted to notice and thankfully their hawk-eyed teacher was busy on the other side of the classroom. With a deep feeling of curiosity Leshia unfurled the scrap of paper and glanced at the word her friend had felt so powerfully about:

_Parys._

Leshia's wide eyes shot back onto Rachel, who had gone nearly as red as her hair and who, for a moment, couldn't meet her friend's gaze. When she did however, she saw only support and joy where she had expected to find mockery and mirth.

"Well good for you Rach, your Patronus was amazing."

Before a heartfelt moment could unfold between the girls their teacher moved to the front of the class and gathered everyone's attention with a mere clear of his throat. When all eyes had finally met his Draco spoke,

"We have to stop it there I'm afraid. I'm very pleased with the progress you've made these last few weeks and I'm so impressed with the level of commitment and effort that you showed to this subject that I won't be setting you any additional homework for the weekend."

Only the very slightest of murmurs rippled through the classroom after such a joyous revelation and for a moment Draco paused and waited for his class to settle.

"Don't forget you have a test on Monday. I hope you've all been practicing for it." In the distance the bell rang leaving twenty sets of anxious eyes watching the teacher. Waiting for him to dismiss them from their last lesson of the week. "Yes off you go then, have a nice weekend."

Amidst the sound of chairs scraping Leshia, Rachel and Rodeo streamed out of the classroom, the blonde girl waving to her father cheerfully at the door before they were released and free to do as they pleased.

"Come on, let's go change. I can't wait to get out of this bloody itchy uniform," Rachel grumbled. Leshia followed her friend and no sooner had they reached their dormitory than she found a surprise waiting for her on her bed.

"What's that? A letter?"

"Yeah. It looks like it's from Katie," Leshia explained to her best friend while she picked up the delicately addressed letter and turned it over in her hands.

"Well go on. Read it." With care Leshia undid the wax seal and unfurled the letter from her friend. By the time she'd opened it Rachel had reached her side and dropped down to read.

_Leshia!_

_ That book your mum sent you, it was called the Secret of Strength wasn't it? You _have _to read it! Tell me you've started. I can't believe you've had it all this time and I bet you've not even leafed through one page of it have you?_

_ Read it! You have to!_

_ Hope you're both behaving yourselves, no time to write I'm afraid, I'm off to a party in a neighbouring house._

_ Lots of love, Katie._

"Is she serious?" Leshia grumbled and she dropped the parchment onto the bed. "What does it matter if I've read that old book or not?"

"Yeah and why has she suddenly started fussing about it?" Rachel chimed in, equally as bemused by the letter as her blonde friend. "Are you going to write back?"

Leshia shrugged her shoulders and glanced to her bedside table to see a notebook lying on top of it with a quill. She had been scribbling down thoughts for a Potions essay, but this was much more important. With a fresh sheet in hand she wrote,

_Hi Katie,_

_ We miss you too, thanks for writing such a lovely letter. And I hate to disappoint you, but no, I haven't started reading that ruddy book yet. What's the big deal?_

_ Hope you enjoy your party._

_ I would write longer, but I've got better things to do and I don't want to._

_Love Leshia._

Her letter was a little cruel and both girls knew it, but neither said anything of it. With the rolled up sheet of paper in hand Leshia wandered over to the window next to her bed and threw her hand out into the open air. After a few minutes a white owl flew to her arm allowing Leshia to tie the letter to it and give it instructions on where to go.

"Hang on, did Katie say she was going to a party?" Rachel asked in disbelief. Leshia grinned and nodded on her way back to the bed.

"Two weeks in the sun and she's a regular party girl," she sighed. "D'you reckon she misses us?"

"Misses bossing us around more like," Rachel sniggered in response. "She can't even manage a fortnight see? Sending you a letter ordering you to read a book, what is she thinking the loon?" Leshia shrugged her shoulders and allowed her eyes to drift to the trunk bearing the book she had received from the owners of Flourish and Blotts. Uncomfortably the girl's branded hand started stinging and she turned her eyes to it, rubbing it angrily.

"I can't wait to get rid of this thing," she sighed grimly.

"It won't be long now Leesh you'll see. I mean, how long can they keep suspecting you without you putting a toe out of line?"

"With Tripper breathing in the Minister's ear I'll bet I'll be old and grey before they finally remove it."

"That's the spirit!" Rachel chuckled. "Positive thinking. Say, can I see this book of yours. What's so special about it?"

Within moments Leshia had delved the large dusty tome out of her trunk and had placed it on her sheets. Both girls peered over it, turning the pages to see page after page of carefully scripted text.

"God there's no pictures or anything. I can understand why you haven't gone near it yet. Are you going to read it?" Leshia snorted and shook her head.

"You saw my letter didn't you? I mean what can Katie possibly do? She's halfway round the world!"

XXX

_Dear Leshia,_

_ I'm sorry, my last letter was rude. I just can't believe you've had that book all this time and you still haven't read it. I don't know why, but it's really important. I thought it was strange when you got it, you know, that I knew it's name from somewhere. I was reading a book I've got, it's all about famous magic legends and all that and it's mentioned as a fabled book. It doesn't really go into it much, but it does say it's really important. I can't believe it's been sat in our dormitory for the last term. I'd read it from cover to cover if it were in front of me right now!_

_ You have to read it Leshia. Think of it as a personal favour to me!_

_ The party was fun thank you very much and I hope that by 'better things to do' you mean your homework. I do worry about the pair of you!_

_ Take care._

_Love Katie_

XXX

_Dear Leshia,_

_ Well there's no need to take that tone! I know I'm a bit of a bookworm, but there's no need to get carried away – Rachel that goes for you too, because I bet you had some hand in that ever-so-witty response._

_ Read the book Leshia! I just have this feeling. Call me Trelawney if you will, but I feel it's so important!_

_ Please?_

_Love Katie_

XXX

_Leshia!_

_ You're not funny!_

_ Read the book!_

_Katie._

XXX

_READ THE BOOK!!_

XXX

_Fine! But just remember, you asked for this!!_

XXX

It was Monday the fifth of February and for over a week now Leshia had been receiving letters in varying degrees of insistency from Katie over the book she had now quite unceremoniously stuffed back into her trunk. Every time she received a bossy letter she returned it with a simple 'no' scrawled at the bottom. It had amused Leshia and Rachel no end imagining their best friend's response each time the letter was returned, but now, secretly they were both a little worried over what the raven-haired girl had planned. Her last letter had been a little ominous.

Over breakfast everyone was quite happily distracted by discussing the strange booth that was being constructed in the entrance hall to worry too much about the post owls as they came hurtling into the Great Hall bearing their letters and parcels. Leshia certainly gave them not a second thought until a heavy red letter dropped onto her plate. It was smoking slightly. Very slowly the girl turned to look at the howler, her expression a little tense.

"That ruddy cousin of mine!" Rachel grumbled when she too saw the howler, though there was a grin on her face at Leshia's impending embarrassment.

"Is that from Katie?" Rodeo now piped up, very curious as to why the bespectacled girl would send one of her best friends such a volatile parcel. "What did you do?"

"Nothing," Leshia grumbled, anxiously glancing up and down the table to see who was going to witness her humiliation. "She's just being a complete and control freak."

"Best get it over with Leesh," Rachel suggested and she shrunk back a little while Leshia reached out to unfold the letter. At her touch it came alive and fluttered up into the air. Its very aura seemed furious and Leshia felt her skin crawl as Katie's angry voice emanated from the howler's mouth,

"You're impossible Leshia! Stop being so stubborn and read the book!"

The message was short and to the point and as soon as it had started talking the letter shredded into pieces of smouldering paper, scattering over the perplexed fourth years surrounding Leshia and Rachel.

"What did she mean by that?" Rodeo asked confusedly, while all about the hall people were turning to stare. Leshia though gave him an accusing glare.

"Sticking her nose in where it's not wanted," the embarrassed girl grumbled. "Like she usually does. Come on Rach, let's let to Defence Against the Dark Arts."

Rachel spared no time in scrambling to her feet and following her best friend out of the hall at a brisk pace. As they passed pupils turned to stare in curiosity, wondering what had happened between them and their dear friend so far away.

"I can't believe she'd embarrass me like that Rach, she's such a pain," Leshia grumbled, but any further her tirade didn't develop as before them in the entrance hall they had stumbled on the completed booth, which was currently being manned by two Hufflepuff seventh years. The girls skidded to a halt and stared with identical grimaces at the large sign the booth bore: _Send your loved one a kitten for Valentines Day_.

As suddenly as they had come to a halt the two girls hurried off once more, their faces still set in disgust. Only once they had walked out of hearing range of the booth did they look to one another, their eyebrows raised.

"It's ghastly," Leshia insisted first, followed quickly by Rachel's assertion that the new Valentines Day celebrations sounded,

"Gross!"

"What could it mean? Does it mean an actual kitten?" Leshia added next, she sounded almost curious.

"I hope not. You're bound to get dozens, if not hundreds."

"Rachel! No I'm not."

"Yeah you are and you know it, but I'm telling you now, I am not sharing our dormitory with any more pets than we already do."

"But Rach, we don't share our dormitory with any pets," Leshia countered her friend with a frown.

"My point exactly!"

XXX

Had Katie's howler embarrassed Leshia enough on the first day she received one, then the second and the third positively mortified her. There was however, a slight amused side to her resigned face when she finally scribbled a response on Wednesday morning conceding defeat. A simple message of: _Fine, I'll read it_, was accompanied by a couple of dungbombs before Leshia sent the letter back with the owl that had delivered the howler to her plate.

Imagining Katie's horror at the smelly reply Rachel and Leshia spent a good few minutes laughing into their cornflakes, but then quite suddenly they sobered up and looked to one another pitifully.

"I wish she'd never left," Leshia finally uttered, her expression miserably.

"Yeah, she's got this way of nagging her way into your heart and then when she's gone, well I guess it's just not the same."

"We've always been the three of us though. My earliest memories, you and Katie, you're both in them. Remember that Halloween we went off on our own and we got picked up by those muggle policemen?"

"Oh god when we were seven? I was in so much trouble!"

"Yeah, but do you remember how scared Katie was at first and we were egging her on, but then when we were put in the police car and we were both crying she completely came through for us."

The pair lulled into silence, thinking of the vital part of their trio, who was so far away from them.

"It's just not the same without her."

XXX

The following Wednesday brought Valentines Day to the castle. The booth that had been selling the mysterious kittens had had a steady throng around it all week that Leshia and Rachel had skirted round, craning their necks to understand more of the celebrations. Their experiences with past Valentines Days at the castle had seen them both receiving their fair share of gifts and so they had a right to be concerned.

The morning of the day itself Leshia was very wary to go down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Rachel had to manhandle her into coming and when they reached Gryffindor table they found everyone to be in a state of curiosity and excitement. There were however, downtrodden faces in equal measure, who, like Leshia and Rachel found the whole concept of Valentines Day to be a disgrace.

When the best friends found their seats they noticed Rodeo to be avoiding their gaze. Either he was dreading the day's proceedings as much as they were or he had contributed to them. Leshia was hoping it was the former.

"When do you think they'll strike?" Rachel asked in an undertone, as she and Leshia started serving themselves.

"Hopefully they forgot." Rachel snorted into her apple juice.

"At the rate this school's been going on about it?" Leshia's eyes drifted up to the head table where the teachers were enjoying their breakfast, relishing in the relative peace and quiet before the storm of chaos struck. Her eyes drifted towards the scarred figure that had taken to stalking her nightmares along with her daylight hours and she shuddered. A deep feeling of hatred stirred in the pit of her stomach, which was almost instantaneously matched by the burning in her hand.

"I wish you couldn't read my mind," she whispered, unbeknownst that she had spoken her thoughts aloud.

"Well sorry, I'll try to keep my powers under control," Rachel complained fondly at her side. Leshia looked up with a wrinkled brow, before she realised what had happened.

"Oh very funny. Well if you're so smart what am I thinking right now?"

"Is it, um, that you think Rachel is the most amazingly funny and smart girl you've ever met?" Leshia grinned darkly.

"Close enough." The girl's eyes drifted back to Tripper and in an instant a wondrous little thought dropped into her head. "Hey! Is that booth still selling kittens and whatnot?"

"Um, I don't think so. Why? Who are you planning on wooing young lady?"

"It's a secret." Across the table Rodeo finally looked up and caught Leshia's eye. His dark brow was furrowed. "Oh don't look at me like that. I'm not trying to woo someone for real, but I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise either. Who were those girls Rach? The ones doing the booth?"

"Oh um…" Rachel rubbed the back of her head in thought. "Um, I think one of them was Sam Daily."

"Is that the one with black hair?" Leshia checked. As soon as she received the nod from Rachel she jumped up and rushed off leaving her breakfast untouched. Rachel watched curiously while her best friend crossed the hall and dropped down near the top of the Hufflepuff table.

"What do you reckon she's up to?" the redhead finally asked Rodeo, who was also following Leshia's movements intently.

"Trouble if you ask me."

Ten minutes later and Leshia was back with a satisfied smirk on her face and bright eyes. She sat down heavily and smiled from one friend to the next.

"Just…"

"Not saying."

"But…"

"Nope."

Rachel and Rodeo exchanged amused smiles, but before they could pester their friend any more the door to the great hall was flung open. All heads swivelled round in time to catch sight of the mysterious kittens that had been auctioned off to admirers. Across the room choruses of 'awww' and 'oooh' were rising as the little creatures reached their intended recipient and revealed just how sickeningly sweet they were.

Each creature reached about the height of an adult's thumb and had obviously been created magically, as they possessed abilities beyond those of normal cats and dogs. They seemed to be able to jump vast distances despite their tiny height and once they had reached their intended recipient they clung to them with vast amounts of affection. Tied around each of their tiny necks was a pink sparkling collar bearing a love message from the sender.

Leshia and Rachel stared in horror at the tiny creatures while all about them the message bearing animals leapt up at their peers. Both knew it was coming and within no time the girls, who had always enjoyed a prominent social standing in the school, became the attention of several kittens.

The very first of them, bearing a message for Rachel, leapt up, aiming for the redhead's shoulder, but missed at the very last moment as Rachel pulled away ensuring the kitten landed in her cornflakes. While everyone laughed the tiny cat, unfazed, scrambled out of the bowl and pranced right up to Rachel purring.

"Oh it's so cute!" Nicola gushed.

"What does the message say?" Ashley now enquired. Rachel's cheeks were glowing and though Leshia would have liked to enjoy the show she became the next to receive a very persistent kitten, followed moments later by another. Their messages were innocuous enough, but Leshia was dismayed to find that once she had relieved the animals of their burden they still clung to her with no intention of disappearing.

"Are they going to follow us round all day?" the girl asked incredulously while she experimentally poked the kitten in the tummy to ascertain whether it was really there or not. The adorable creature, mistaking this for a game rolled onto its back and started playing with Leshia's sleeve. "Oy, get off!"

At her side Rachel was pretending to be equally as disgusted as her friend, but in truth she was quite enamoured with her kitten.

"Oh Leesh you're such a spoilsport," Nicola complained. She was yet to receive a little creature. "You never get into the spirit of Valentines Day."

"Yeah," Ashley asserted at her side. "But still you get sent the most each year. You should have a little tact."

Feeling irritated at their words Leshia wanted to retort, but they had humbled her enough to enable her to hold her tongue. Yes the whole concept was entirely ludicrous, but to some people not being included in the grotesque celebrations was as heartbreaking to them as Leshia would feel were she suddenly dropped from the Gryffindor team and so, she said nothing more on the matter till they reached the history of magic classroom. Professor Binns usually floated in along to the bell and expected his pupils to be seated and ready to listen, so Leshia and Rachel wandered straight into the classroom and found their seats near the back.

"Are you sure they're okay in there?" Rachel asked her blonde friend dubiously as girls dropped down and lifted their satchels onto their desks. In her arms she was cradling her tiny kitten, which she had named Gobstopper. Her question was referring to the meowing noises emanating from Leshia's satchel, where her pair of kittens had been quite unceremoniously thrust. The blonde girl shrugged her shoulders noncommittally.

"I think they're actually enjoying the ride. Look." Carefully she lifted the flap on her satchel revealing the two kittens jumping up excitedly, but they didn't try to escape their leather cage.

"Say Leesh, have you got anywhere with that book yet?" Rachel now asked curiously, eliciting a grim expression from her friend.

"Not quite. I mean every time I open the damn thing I get overcome with this huge wave of exhaustion and I end up falling asleep before I've even read the first page."

"Why don't you start on the second page then?"

"Oh very funny. Why don't I just shove the damn thing back in my trunk and tell Katie I read it?"

"Well that could work in theory, but knowing my cousin she'll set you a test on it when she gets back."

Leshia chuckled fondly, picturing their raven-haired friend doing exactly that and allowed pleasant thoughts of Katie's homecoming to filter into her thinking until the end of the boring lesson. She hadn't heard a word the spectral teacher had spoken. The girls' next lesson of the day would offer no such opportunity: Ancient Runes. With a feeling of unease and yet a flutter of mischief Leshia led the way with Rachel hot on her tail. The girls had both accumulated more kittens during their hour-long history lesson and now Leshia's satchel was a little weighed down by the eight kittens she had unceremoniously plonked inside. Everywhere they went tiny creatures skirted in between people's feet and though many girls seemed to be relishing in their new temporary pets, most of the young men of the castle were sporting a similar disinterest to the cats as Leshia herself was.

By the time the girls got to the Runes classroom they were the last to join the queue. The bell had only just rung and before they could open their mouths to resume their conversation the door to the classroom flung open making way for a crowd of frightened looking sixth years to escape the clutches of their manic teacher. Leshia felt her skin crawl at the thought of enduring another hour under Tripper's watch, before she and her classmates filed in.

The scarred teacher seemed more out of sorts than normal and at the sight of all the playful kittens accompanying his class in he visibly shuddered. Leshia was quite happy she'd forced hers out of sight, for she wasn't the target of one of Tripper's shrill cries for once,

"Put those damn creatures away! I don't want to see them for the rest of the lesson." The worried fourth years quickly followed Leshia's lead by bundling their dear cats away. Once they had done so the foul teacher started his lesson.

Leshia was having trouble concentrating and every few minutes or so her eyes would dart to the large clock hanging above the blackboard. Tripper though, was far to enraged by the morning's ludicrous activity that he barely paid his least favourite pupil any attention.

Only ten minutes of the lesson remained until quite suddenly the door to the classroom barrelled open making way for a stream of twenty kittens to come hurtling inside. The class stared with wide eyes at the animals, hoping against hope that they weren't the recipients of the Valentines, as surely their irate teacher would find this enough of an excuse to punish them?

Quite to everyone's surprise however, their worry had been in vain, as one by one the kittens targeted their teacher and started jumping up at him. Never had the fourth years seen Professor Tripper so out of sorts and after flapping at the determined kittens with wild arms he started hopping up and down trying to stamp on them.

At first Leshia, who was shaking from having to contain her laughter so much, felt a stab of panic. What if the furious man harmed the animals? Having sent them all herself she would not be able to escape the guilt if she became responsible for their premature demise. Thankfully though, the magic that had brought the kittens to life was powerful enough to avoid calamity and the bewitched miniature creatures merely jumped out the way of the teacher's large thumping feet.

It was a sight to behold.

"Enough!" the man finally cried out and he dropped into his seat, his chest rising and falling dramatically. Where moments before the class had been clutching at their sides to avoid their laughter from bubbling out, they all stared now with wide eyes at the incensed man. He seemed more livid than ever they had seen him and despite the fact that his appearance was more than comical, with twenty tiny kittens clambering all over him, there seemed nothing funny about the situation at all.

"All of you, get out!"

Without needing to be told twice the fourth years gathered their parchments and textbooks together before they streamed out as quickly as they could. The door slammed behind them leaving Leshia stood a little way down the corridor looking over her shoulder with a worried frown.

"Leesh what's wrong? Come on, let's go before he changes his mind."

"I feel responsible. What if he's hurting them?" the blonde girl countered and she turned to look her best friend in the eye.

"I _knew_ it was you who'd sent them," Rachel crowed triumphantly. "Look, they're not real okay? He couldn't hurt them. He's probably stuffed them in a drawer somewhere. Now let's go, because there's absolutely no way I am going back in there with him in that mood."

XXX

By the time dinner was served in the Great Hall the school had become inundated with miniature kittens. Leshia alone had accumulated a following of bewitched animals and she was quite beside herself with what to do with them all. Her satchel had long since become too small to accommodate them and after tiptoeing round the cats to avoid stepping on them she remembered Tripper's attempts to squash them failing miserably, so she merely strode confidently ahead. Sure enough, the cats jumped out of her path and not once had she trodden on as much as a miniscule tail.

Her mood was grim over dinner and though Rachel, Nicola and Ashley were relishing in their tiny companions, the blonde girl had had quite enough of them.

"I wish they'd bugger off," she grumbled when one of them made itself comfortable in the nape of her neck. After giving it a flick the cat yawned broadly and scrambled away.

"You're such a misery guts Leesh, they're so cute," Nicola countered with a beaming smile at her tiny pet. Leshia cast the girl a sour look.

"I couldn't even show my own cat enough love and attention to make him stick around. What the hell do I want with sixty odd kittens?"

"Oh yeah, what did happen to Philly? I haven't seen him since September," Rachel suddenly remarked with a frown. Ashley looked up curiously.

"Don't you know? Some girl in Hufflepuff adopted him. He's been living with them since we got back after the summer."

Though she hid her disappointment Leshia felt an odd rush of emotion that she couldn't explain. She'd rather hoped her old cat had turned feral rather than taken to moving in with someone else. She missed him every now and then when a cold draught rattled through the tower. When she had first moved to Hogwarts he'd slept curled up at her side and could always be counted on to offer a little burst of warmth and a cuddle, but now he was gone, giving his love and his warmth to someone else.

Leshia was much kinder to her kittens after this momentary well of self-pity and though she didn't tuck them all up in bed with her like Rachel did come the end of the day, she didn't object when they crawled onto her four-poster after she'd shuffled under the covers. By the morning, they'd disappeared.

XXX

_Dear Rachel and Leshia,_

_ I hope you're both managing without me and that nothing too disastrous has happened. Those Valentines Day kittens sounded adorable, I wish I could have been there to see them. I was a bit worried to hear about a certain incident involving twenty kittens and a man not to be trifled with. Whoever was responsible for that ought to tread lightly and not incriminate him or herself. _

_ Anyway, I've been here five weeks and I swear I don't need translator spells anymore. I can almost understand every word. Parys isn't doing so well, but I think he's using this as an excuse to have a party all the time and lay about in the sun. He's gone as brown as a berry and I don't think he and Raffa go to many of their lessons. He's in danger of being sent home if you ask me. Julius Black on the other hand is taking a very assiduous view to this experience and he and I spend a great deal of time in the homework room trying to make sure our essays are up to scratch. They cover such different topics here I'm in a little over my head._

_ How's the book going Leshia? Is it terribly fascinating?_

_ How's Rodeo?_

_ Must dash, afternoon lessons start in ten minutes. Good luck in the Ravenclaw game this weekend. I know you're going to win, I just know it, so don't you worry. Especially you Rachel! You're on the team because Leshia thought you were good enough._

_Love you both!_

_Katie xxx_

The letter arrived on the morning of the Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw match. Leshia had been on tenterhooks since Friday, but Rachel was a veritable mass of quivering nerves. Katie's words of assurance did little to settle the red-haired girl and she merely made an incomprehensible squeak and returned to her slice of toast. Secretly Leshia was a little worried. To put Rachel off her food was quite a feat; would she hold it together during the game?

The new Gryffindor team had been training together nearly every day for the last two weeks and though they were all excellent flyers, getting the new players to work as a team and adapt to the trademark Gryffindor moves had been tough going. Finally though, their temporary captain was satisfied with the progress they had made. She was sure that were they to face the same Ravenclaw team they had in previous years then they would end the game victoriously. However, the Ravenclaws, having lost two of their players, a chaser and a beater, had also been practicing furiously in recent weeks and Leshia didn't know what to expect from them. Then there was the fact that Martin Lahara, Ravenclaw's seeker had left school in the summer making way for a new seeker.

Joe Thompson was in fourth year and Leshia had come across him in lessons since they were in first year. He was a rather unremarkable young man, but the Gryffindor seeker knew not to use this as a reason to underestimate her new rival. She would have to fly carefully and catch the snitch as soon as she laid eyes on it.

All in all as the Gryffindors made their way out to the quidditch pitch, where an aura of chatter and noise revealed that the school had already made themselves comfortable in the stands, the team members were all looking a little green from worry. Leshia was trying her very hardest to keep them motivated and when she got them all together in the dressing room she gave a rousing speech that managed to perk up her players for a grand total of five minutes, before the awe-inspiring sight of the paced stands made their faces fall once more.

"Just remember what we practiced," Leshia uttered to Rachel as they made their way onto the pitch.

"I can't, my mind's gone blank." The seeker shot her friend a worried glance.

"Well then just aim the damn bludgers at the opposition and stop it from hitting us, it's that simple." Rachel managed a smirk and she nodded to show she was going to keep it together.

"Leesh I think they want you to do the captain's thing."

Sure enough, Madam Hooch was waiting with Ravenclaw's captain Robert Parker in the middle of the pitch. With a flutter of worry Leshia approached, pulling at the captain's band pulled tightly round her left arm. After shaking the tall boy's hand Leshia glanced over her shoulder to see her players were ready to shoot into action.

"I want a clean game, from all of you," Madam Hooch called to the players, before quite suddenly she threw the quaffle high into the air to the shrill sound of her whistle. Leshia had been practicing the shoot out, knowing it was the captain's role, but she was no chaser and Parker easily swiped the ball from her grasp and had lofted it to one of his chasers.

Not allowing this to deter her Leshia quickly rose through the mid-level traffic to find her favoured cruising zone about twenty feet higher up, away from rogue bludgers and errant quaffles. Somewhere down below Joe Thompson was hovering near the action and Leshia felt a flutter of worry. Could he have already seen the snitch and was waiting to strike?

"And Gryffindor score with a fantastic goal by Rodeo Holsson!" Leshia's ears perked up and she lost her concentration for a moment to glance down and see Jaime Wood and Will Lloyd congratulating Rodeo.

Thompson darted and for a horrifying moment Leshia thought her lack of concentration had cost them the match, but thankfully the inexperienced Ravenclaw seeker had merely caught the reflection from someone's broom and he came to a complete halt once more. After rolling her eyes Leshia settled down into a scouting pattern, reminding herself not to let anything distract her from her task.

"And Wood's flawless finish puts Gryffindor twenty points ahead."

"Ignore it," Leshia whispered to herself, struggling with the pressure of her captaincy only moments into the game. She was concerned with the progress of the team and it was detracting from her usual steadfastness in the hunt for the snitch. Higher the girl flew, until she could barely hear the commentator and the players were indistinguishable. Her keen eyes still roved for the golden ball and though she was now at a ridiculous height, she knew her eyes were good enough to spot it from such a distance.

For fifteen minutes she remained, flying from one end of the pitch to the other, desperately seeking out the ball that could put an end to her frayed nerves. The only disturbance to her peaceful hunt being a bludger, which had been belted her way by accident. Rachel soon came to collect it, throwing a beaming smile and a cry at Leshia as she went,

"Can you believe it?" But just what Leshia was meant to believe she couldn't discern, as Rachel had already dropped down to the level of play once more.

Three minutes later and a glimmer of gold caught the experienced seeker's attention. Without hesitation she dropped into a terrifyingly vertical descent. All eyes paused for a moment to watch while the small blonde girl literally plummeted from the sky, with only her thin trusty broom to prevent her from crashing fatally into the ground.

Not once did Leshia take her eyes from her prize, which was hovering under the level of play. Across the pitch Joe Thompson finally caught sight of the snitch and he too lurched into a clumsy passage across the mid-level traffic. Had he been below them he would have been upon the snitch within moments, but thankfully for Leshia he was experiencing severe difficulties in the form of the Gryffindor chasers flying around him, passing the quaffle in front of his face, giving their seeker enough time to descend.

Like a stone Leshia dropped straight through the mid-zone without harm and her goal was within reach. With enormous strength she ripped the nose of her broom up before she could collide with the ground, sending her spiralling towards the snitch. It stood no chance and without any contest, the snitch lay fluttering in Leshia's hand. It had been a textbook finish.

The crowds were going thoroughly wild for the Gryffindor victory and after appreciating their energy for a few seconds Leshia found herself swamped by her team mates. Leshia struggled through them all to find Rachel smiling fit to burst. The nerves had dissipated the moment she had lifted into the air and she had enjoyed a thrilling game.

"What did you yell at me just now?" Leshia asked, raising her finger to the sky to indicate what she was talking about.

"I said 'Can you believe it?'" Rachel repeated ecstatically.

"Could I believe what?"

"We were leading Leesh, by a hundred and sixty points!" Leshia's eyes went wide.

"No! Seriously?"

"Deadly serious. Those Ravenclaws didn't know what hit them!"

XXX

Following Gryffindor's magnificent victory over the Ravenclaws their training regime wound down. There was no need to keep training so religiously, as by the time Gryffindor played Hufflepuff in the summer term, the original players would be back from their exchange trip and Leshia would no longer be captain. While she had had them Leshia had never been prouder and she had let her team know that she had never had so much fun as leading them onto the quidditch pitch and winning with such glory.

With more time on their hands the girls managed to return their minds to their homework, which they had been rather ignoring as of late and with plans to spend the whole of the following Saturday in the library, Leshia and Rachel awoke early and made their way down to breakfast. There weren't many pupils around at this hour, allowing the girls to enjoy a raucous conversation in relative peace and quiet. Just as they were finishing their cereal the post owls filled the hall with flapping wings and a flurry of activity. Leshia and Rachel glanced up curiously and watched as the owls delivered letters and parcels to empty seats around them where their peers usually sat. They themselves received nothing and though Rachel had a fond little moan about Katie not sending enough letters Leshia's attention was otherwise detained.

"Leesh!" With wide eyes Leshia glanced back at Rachel. "I said, she's probably off canoodling with Julius Black and too busy to send us a letter." Leshia wrinkled her brow, very confused by what Rachel was saying before she glanced back to the Daily Prophet, which had landed a little way up at Samuel Thomas' place. Rachel, not accustomed to being ignored glanced up as well.

"Oh," she exclaimed in shock the moment she saw Lucius Malfoy's mangled old face glowering at her from the front page of the newspaper under the heading 'Dark Wizard spotted in Manchester!'.

Leshia started rubbing at her stinging hand and she forced her eyes away from her grandfather's picture. Though every bone in her body was trying to force her to reach out and read the article, the Eye on her hand was reminding her of what could happen if she did and so with a heavy sigh she climbed to her feet, lifting her enormously heavy satchel as she went.

"God, this book weighs a ton!" she grumbled, referring to the Secret of Strength, which she had taken to carting around in her satchel as an incentive to read it.

"Maybe you should just read it and get it out the way?" Rachel suggested all too readily and she led Leshia away from the article on the table. Leshia grinned resignedly.

"You know, that's not such a bad idea."

And so with renewed vigour Leshia threw herself into the book, forcing herself to read through its dull pages. It became a labour of resentment and though she was loath to open it's battered front cover she took to doing so every day. Everywhere the girl went the book accompanied her.

Two weeks passed until finally the end was in sight and she had made it onto the last chapter. Being so close to completion the girl had the book out over dinner and was so heavily involved in the words in its pages that she didn't notice the tall and scarred figure that was hobbling towards her through the Great Hall.

Silas Tripper had been watching Alecia Malfoy for several days now, her nose buried inside a massive tome and her attention very difficult to claw away from it. Making everything she did a matter for his concern he was demanding to know now, what had the young Gryffindor so distracted. Within moments he had reached the girl's side and without pausing to ask he reached for the book and slammed it shut to read the front cover.

Instantly the man recoiled from the girl, his hand frozen and his face contorted in disgust and fear. From his throat a constricted scream escaped and one by one the occupants of the hall turned to stare in wonder at the peculiar teacher.

"That book!" Demented he seemed and ever so carefully Leshia was edging her way closer to Rachel, who was more than happily trying to wrap and arm through Leshia's to offer her comfort. Whatever that book had done to the Runes professor did not bode well for her best friend and moreover, both girls knew it. "Dumbledore! Do you see what book she has? Is this not enough to convince you?"

The scarred cretin wheeled on Leshia, his frozen hand now pointing at her accusingly. Any trace of amusement was gone on her peers' faces as they all saw now how much trouble the popular girl was in.

"Silas!" Dumbledore had risen to his feet before the younger man could launch into a further tirade aimed at the innocent child. Stealthily he was making his way down the aisle towards Leshia and Tripper. All the while Leshia held the ministry stooge's gaze, while he pointed his finger squarely in her face. Her hand was itching, the cruel Eye very aware that something monumental had just occurred.

"Do you see Dumbledore? Look!"

As the venerable old man approached his attention was forced onto the old tome lying in front of Leshia on the table and when he had scanned the title his face went very pale and his eyes very wide. Leshia felt a wave of fear wash over her; if Dumbledore was afraid, then surely, she ought to be terrified?

Quickly the headmaster swept the book up and into the folds of his robes. He looked straight into Leshia's eyes and offered her a look of courage and strength.

"Return to your common room Leshia and try not to worry," he told her firmly.

"Try not to worry?" Tripper repeated snidely. "She's done for! The ministry is finally going to act and not even you can stand in my way this time old man."

"Silence." Those pupils sat nearest the headmaster felt their heads swim under the power of his utterance. Even Tripper seemed humbled. "This is my school Silas and I will not have you turn it into the ministry nor will I allow you to terrorise my pupils. My study, immediately!"

With this the empowered old wizard strode back up the aisle with Tripper in pursuit. They left without another word to one another leaving everyone in the hall staring at Leshia in shock. Every pair of eyes, be they pupil or teacher, were trained on the small Gryffindor girl, who at this moment struggled to catch her breath. Her shoulders were rising and falling rapidly, tears were coming.

Rachel climbed to her feet and lifted Leshia to hers. At the girl's other side Rodeo jumped to his own feet and with the aid of her close friends Leshia found herself escorted from the curiosity and pity of the school. Leshia's last glance back darted to the head table, where two empty seats reminded her ever so painfully of the fact that her parents weren't there to support her. Finally, after months of threats and near misses Leshia was going to suffer the consequences for being the daughter of Draco Malfoy and he was nowhere to be seen to protect her from them.

XXX

_Sorry it's been such a long time coming, but I haven't been writing in the last six months due to a serious upheavel in my personal life. This is also the reason it doesn't seem very fluid and several times I wanted to stop because it seemed boring. I apologise if it was, but these are all minor points that are important to the overall plot. We're getting there, ever so slowly. So hang in there. I'll try and post the next chapter soon, though I start work as a teacher on Monday, which means I'll be quite busy._

_Hope there are still some dedicated readers out there!_


	10. Part Ten

**Generations: Rebel Inside**

**Part X**

Draco was sitting at the kitchen table, a sixth year's essay unfurled on the table in front of him, his brow knitted together in perplexity. How had his pupil gone so badly wrong? If the uneven scrawl scribbled at the top of the paper was anything to go by, then this poorly explained debacle had been created by Luke Weasley.

"I should have known," Draco sighed with an amused smile. "Only a Weasley could get it so wrong."

His evening had been a quiet one, as Hermione had taken herself off out with Ginny Potter. Draco had been quite unceremoniously asked to remain behind and mind the baby as the evening was to become a 'girl's night'. Dreading to think what might take place at such an occasion Draco had put up very little of a fight, merely grumbling playfully for Hermione's sake before making himself comfortable in front of the fire with a tumbler full of whiskey and a good book. He'd had a long day's teaching and had been looking forward for a bit of peace and quiet. Unlike her usual boisterous self, Evie had been quite contained and after her regular feed had gone down for the evening quite happily. She lay now at Draco's side in a basinet, mumbling ever so slightly in her sleep and clenching and unclenching her little fists.

Nine months old now, Evie was growing frighteningly fast and her personality was flourishing. She wasn't quite so peaceful as Hermione had first assumed and had a fiery cheeky side to her that reminded Draco painfully of his older daughter. That Leshia had ever been so young and so untouched made the weathered man ache. He hadn't known her then. He'd pushed her aside throughout most of her babyhood and her childhood to repent for his crimes, therein perpetrating his worst crime of all: his abandonment of his daughter. With Evie it was all very different, Draco took the time to play with her every day, he would not miss out this time!

For a moment Draco looked up from Luke's scrappy homework to let his gaze fall on his sleeping baby. That Evie was the spitting image of her older sister, only made in a darker hue, was all too true. Were he to pick Evie up and take her back through time to place her beside her older sister at a similar stage of her life then he would have only the colour of their eyes and their hair to tell them apart.

"You're going to be beautiful one day Evie," he told the infant with a tired sigh. "And when you are, I'm going to lock you away until you're old and wrinkled and not quite so beautiful anymore. The scrapes your sister gets herself into…"

In a whoosh of green flames the quietness of the Malfoy kitchen was disturbed by none other than Albus Dumbledore climbing from the grate. Draco looked up in mild surprise and took in the ancient headmaster's ragged pale appearance. Something had happened that had given old Albus the shock of his life and had brought him straight to Draco's door. The younger man could only assume the worst.

Before the words could tumble from the once auror's mouth Dumbledore took in the scene before him. He was happy to see Draco was alone, for he didn't know if he could convey his news to both parents. Hermione had always been a favourite of Dumbledore's, but he had seen how the young woman had changed with motherhood. Her instincts were to protect her children and sometimes they clouded her better judgement. The baby sleeping quietly at Draco's side suggested the lady of the house was out.

Looking more closely at the sleeping infant Dumbledore's eyes widened in astonishment. He had not seen Evie in many months and now he had come face to face with the grown baby he too saw the similarities between her and the girl who had caused him so much heartache that evening. Any fear for Evie's safety though Dumbledore could not find, as he knew _that _child could never follow her older sister on the dangerous path she had both taken and been thrust down. When Leshia had been born there had been a shadow on her house. She had been born into dark and uncertain times and would never truly escape the darkness that had filled her youth with so many painful memories. Her little sister on the other hand had been born into a time of hope and love and would never suffer the same life her sister had been ordained.

The younger man sat beside the mountain of marking stood to his feet quite suddenly, his chest tight and his heart beating thunderously. Something had happened to his little girl and now Albus Dumbledore had come to deliver the news.

"Somehow I don't think you've come to moderate my marking Albus. What's happened?" the blond man managed quite calmly, though his grey eyes clouded over darkly and he hung his head, ready for the worst.

"Please Draco, sit down, I have much to tell and I feel I must find a seat before my feet fail me," the old man returned gravely. Instantly Draco stepped forward and led his old friend to a seat at the table. Within moments he had served the headmaster a mug of tea and had taken the seat at his side with a tumbler full of whiskey. Dumbledore eyed it as though he felt he would rather have the stronger drink after the night he'd had, but said nothing of it.

"This evening, over dinner, Silas Tripper happened upon your daughter and found her in a very compromising situation." Draco frowned heavily, but bit his tongue to refrain from interrupting. "She was reading 'the Secret of Strength' Draco, right under his very nose."

Draco, who had been taking a gulp of his drink quite promptly spat it out all over Luke Weasley's work. He stared with wild eyes at the headmaster, who merely nodded in agreement.

"She _what_?"

"He felt quite similarly I'd imagine when he saw the title. To find _that_ book, of all the books in the world, in Hogwarts and in your daughter's possession terrified him no doubt and he reacted as you'd expect him to. Now I must know Draco, where could Leshia have obtained it?"

Draco was too shocked to comprehend most of what Albus had just explained and for a moment he had no answers. Where Leshia could have found one of the most notorious books in wizarding history he had no idea, but he could comprehend how this looked to one such as Tripper. This was exactly the moment he had been waiting for. At last he could strike.

"She's a fifteen-year-old girl Albus," the younger man finally spoke, his tone unsteady. "How could a child have succeeded where Voldemort himself failed? How could she have got her hands on it? My daughter is many things, but capable of impossible feats she is not, especially if she doesn't know what she's looking for. That book is a closely guarded secret, she couldn't have known about it. Someone must have given it to her. Do you think it might have been Tripper?"

"The thought has crossed my mind. That he is capable of planting something on your daughter to frame her I am in no doubt. He is a man of few scruples and terminally ruining the life of an innocent child is unfortunately not a crime I would feel him inept to carry out. However." The wizened old man paused and leant heavily on his hand in thought. "If you could have seen him my friend, he was quite beside himself. I cannot believe him to have orchestrated these events. He couldn't look upon the book, let alone touch it."

Draco held the headmaster's gaze a little longer before he hung his head. For a moment he pawed at the wood grain on the ancient table, struggling to stay afloat while a torrent of emotions pulled him in. How on earth was he going to protect Leshia now?

"What happens now?" he finally managed dejectedly. Dumbledore took a long sip from his piping hot tea, before he straightened out, ready to recall the rest of the evening's troubling events.

"After his finding Leshia with the book Tripper insisted upon going straight to the Minister of Magic. I have not the power to stand in his way when his mind is set upon something, so of course, I accompanied him and messaged for Storik to join me immediately. Thankfully Mr Broadsword was still settling a dispute involving rogue dementors in the north and he was available to meet me at the Minister's office before Silas and I had even arrived."

"Young Mr Tripper spared no time in blowing the story out of proportion for Minister Crayik and I spared no time of course in putting his fear mongering into context. Both Storik and I tried and failed to make the Minister see reason. He is far too influenced by the paranoia of those like Mr Tripper and he would not be swayed."

Dumbledore sighed heavily as he came to the part of his story he was least eager to part with. Draco was watching him intently with his piercing grey gaze and for a moment Albus looked away from them. He had tried and he had failed; he had been powerless to keep Hermione and Draco's daughter out of harm's way. Finding strength Dumbledore returned his attention back to the tense father sat on the edge of his seat.

"Leshia is to be put on trial Draco."

Draco remained deadly silent, but his eyes slipped from Dumbledore's face to a distant place no living soul could follow. His handsome face was now contorted in a storm of turbulent emotions and tension and one could only imagine at the thoughts running through his well-trained mind.

Quite suddenly Draco was on his feet and after only three strides he had climbed into the grate a handful of floo powder in his hand. Dumbledore too leapt to his feet, amazed at Draco's course of actions.

"Where are you going?"

"Where do you think? To see my daughter." With a heavy sigh Dumbledore shook his head and moved to stand behind the basinet.

"And what of this one?"

Draco looked up, his fingers ready to drop the powder without a moment's thought, but the sigh of his sleeping baby made him stop. Most uncharacteristically he was wearing his emotions on his sleeve and Dumbledore could see how torn the young father had become. To leave one child for the sake of another? Could he do such a thing?

"Leshia will most likely be asleep and if sleep has failed to find her then she has more than enough friends and allies to rally round her for one night Draco. Send a message along with me to let her know you are thinking of her and then stay here, where you are truly needed. There is nothing that can be done tonight."

Draco's face crumpled in torment and his shoulders drooped. His gaze flittered between the floo powder in his hand and the sleeping infant in front of his old friend. His baby couldn't manage without her father, whereas his teenaged daughter was most likely in the arms of friends as he stood there pondering what to do. There was no denying where his heart was pulling him, but little Evie, he couldn't leave her.

"She's probably scared to death Albus," he finally uttered through a constricted throat.

"Yes, she probably is and I don't deny that you might stave off some of that fear, but you have two daughters Draco and this one needs you infinitely more. You cannot leave Evie alone."

It was a risky gamble Dumbledore had decided to take. To tell Draco how to parent his children was certainly a foolhardy choice, but if he could be made to see reason by such means then Dumbledore would take the chance. The younger man's apparent lack of concern for his younger child was disturbing to the headmaster and though he was loath to take a side in the battle that Hermione had sought his advice on, he was beginning to think that perhaps the mother had a point. Draco's allegiances to his oldest daughter were set in stone and could never be broken. Leshia herself had tried her very hardest to sever their ties and had failed, but the bonds linking Draco to little Evie were fragile and new and had not a lifetime of love and memories to make it strong. Draco couldn't abandon her now.

A heavy sigh escaped the young man and he climbed from the grate with two thumping steps. Without a word to the headmaster he sat down once more at the table and hung his head over his white hands.

"I've done this to her Albus. It's my fault. Everything is my fault."

Dumbledore spoke not a word as the broken man at the table reached for a clean sheet of parchment and scribbled a letter of love and reassurance for the child he had no power to comfort, before he folded it neatly and handed it to the wizened headmaster, who moved without a word to the hearth.

"You will tell Hermione what has happened?" the aged man asked kindly once he had collected the floo powder for his journey back to the castle. Draco merely nodded.

"Explain it to her Albus," he whispered before Dumbledore could drop his handful of powder. "She won't understand why I haven't come."

"I will put her mind at ease on that count my friend."

With this the headmaster was gone leaving Draco hunched over the table, his shoulders trembling and his heart breaking.

"Leshia," he whispered, pinching his fingers tightly into the corners of his eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything I've done to you and for everything I failed to do for you. I'm sorry."

xxx

Thoroughly wedged into the three-seater sofa, with Rachel on one side, Rodeo the other, Ashley and Nicola leaning on the back rest and Owen Gabriel sat in front of her on the coffee table, his knees sandwiching hers was Leshia. She could not have been more surrounded by friends and loved ones. The girl's face was tearstained and those pressing themselves against her, willing her to be strong and to take comfort from them were silenced into an ominous stillness that was yet to be broken. Owen slowly reached out to take Leshia's hands and at his touch the girl looked up into his face, which had grown closer with the young man's leaning in as far as he could.

"I know you're scared," he spoke gently. "But you know Dumbledore and your dad won't let anything happen to you."

"None of us will," Rodeo spoke up firmly. Owen, though his eyes narrowed slightly at the younger boy, nodded resolutely, before he looked back to Leshia's watery grey eyes. They creased slightly, before she let them wander from Owen's hazel gaze. With a wince of hatred at the people who had done this to her Owen looked down at Leshia's hands and rubbed at the glowing sinister Eye that hadn't stopped hurting the girl since the events down in the hall.

"Flourish and Blott will come forward and tell everyone they're the ones who gave you the book Leesh," Rachel now spoke comfortingly and she wrapped her arm even more tightly about Leshia's small shoulders. "And we'll all back you up. That thing's been dumped in your trunk since September, I'll tell them that! You haven't got the foggiest what that book is. We'll all vouch for you!"

"Rachel's right Leesh," Rodeo added. "Everyone in the school will vouch for you. He won't get his way, you won't be sent away." Leshia's shoulders trembled and she lifted her eyes to seek out Owen's. Her hands clenched tightly around his and for a moment she wanted only him. Her eyes told the young man as much making Owen's head swim with love for the girl. He had not the means to express himself, so instead he reached out to wipe a tear from under the girl's eye.

"Don't cry," he whispered, expressing all of his concern and affection in his gentle voice.

"It's calling me," the girl finally spoke and she lifted her branded hand to show the glowing Eye. The extent to which it was throbbing had seeped into Leshia's thinking and it was as though her very brain was pulsating along with the cruel burn on her hand. "They're calling me, the Ministry, I can feel it. It knows, it knows it's going to win."

Her desperate words instantly brought reactions from her friends around her, who reached out to embrace the girl and bury her under their arms. Only Owen held back and he held the girl's gaze with his heartbreak clear on his face. Tripper had taken all Leshia's hope and happiness away from her and if it was the last thing he did, Owen Gabriel was going to make the scarred man regret it.

Quite suddenly the portrait to the common room swung open making way for the imposing form of Albus Dumbledore. When last they had seen him the old headmaster had displayed only an ounce of his awesome power and as though an electric current had passed through the room the youngsters started to move to leave him alone with the Gryffindor girl.

"Please," Dumbledore addressed his pupils. "Stay where you are. You need not flee on my account." Owen, who had not moved at the appearance of the headmaster now shuffled over a bit so that he still held onto Leshia's hand, but allowed for her to become visible to the headmaster who had made his way over to her.

On approaching the youngster a smile pulled onto the face of old Albus Dumbledore. In even the bleakest of moments strength could be found and upon seeing the support the charming, courageous girl had rallied about herself over the years he felt his resolve fortify and his macabre thoughts dissipate into vigour. A little stiltedly he managed to lower himself onto the coffee table beside Owen so that he might have a frank discussion with the girl who seemed so small surrounded by her protective friends and allies.

"Dear Leshia," the headmaster sighed and he offered the girl a smile. "I beg of you not to be afraid. I will endeavour to do all that I can to keep you from harm's way, I promise you this much." Leshia nodded, her grey tearful eyes wretched and scared. "I have gone to see your father and I have explained to him what has occurred."

"Why hasn't he come?" the young girl spoke through a cracked voice. Dumbledore sighed pensively, before he replied quite simply,

"Because I asked him not to."

Instantly the fire was back in Alecia Malfoy's face and her pale brow lowered over her eyes in anger.

"Why did you do that?" Her gall was quite impressive for one so young, for to speak in such frank and aggressive tones to arguably the most respected and powerful wizard alive required more than a little cheek and foolhardiness.

"Because young Leshia your father was alone with your little sister and he could not abandon her," the headmaster replied with equal frankness. Leshia was shocked into silence at such plainly spoken words and for a moment she felt furious at everyone around her, but especially the little usurper who had infiltrated and blown apart her family.

"Your father was very difficult to convince," Dumbledore continued. "But I assured him that your friends would no doubt have protected and comforted you to last you through to the morning."

Humbled now Leshia glanced to her closest friends and nodded. They had been a rock to her, a pillar of strength at a time when all hers had failed her. What would she have done without them? In a surprising revelation the young girl realised that she no longer needed her father to rescue her or make everything right again. She could wait for one night as long as Rachel, Rodeo and dear Owen stayed at her side.

"Sorry sir," the girl finally whispered. "You're right, I don't need him, not right now." With a smile Dumbledore nodded and he reached into the fold of his cloak to reveal the letter Draco had written for his daughter.

"He asked me to give you this." Delicately Leshia took the letter from her father and held it close, her eyes never leaving the headmaster's. "For the time being Leshia, until we hear otherwise, things are to carry on as normal. You will still attend your lessons and you will still do your homework. On one count however, I will make an exception. You will not be required to attend your Ancient Runes lessons until this matter has well and truly been put to rest. Are we agreed?"

Quickly Leshia nodded and a small smile wormed onto her face. An invitation to miss Runes? That was the best news she'd heard all evening.

"Yes sir!"

"Very well. Do try to get some sleep." Here the wizened old man's fond eyes darted to the girl's friends his sentiments intended for all of them before he climbed to his feet and shuffled from the room leaving Leshia to unfold the letter from her father.

_My darling,_

_I'm so sorry I haven't been able to come to you. It breaks every single one of instincts and my heart that I'm not at your side right now, but I have to remain here to explain to your mother what has happened and to watch over your sister until she returns. _

_I know you're scared and I know you're uncertain, but I promise you on my life that I will __not__ let that coward of a man do you any harm. I won't let them touch you. You know I mean it. It's my fault this has happened to you, it's my sins you're paying for and in the end the Wizengamot will see sense, even if Crayik and his cronies have gone mad there is still justice left in the Ministry. Get some sleep; I'll come to see you as soon as I arrive in the morning._

_My every thought is with you. I love you._

_Love dad._

Feeling strengthened at her father's words Leshia pulled the letter to her chest and exhaled a sigh of pent up emotion. Her moment of weakness reversed a strong smile pulled onto the girl's face and she grinned at her friends in turn.

"Well at least one good thing's come of this," she explained with a shrug. "I won't have to see Tripper for a while. Maybe I should run round the castle with a 'Bring Back Voldemort' T-shirt, then I might be let off for a whole month!"

Around her her friends laughed, mainly out of relief that their dear friend had finally returned to them and they kept laughing until Leshia staved her laughter due to the pain in her hand growing too strong.

"You're braver than anyone I know Malfoy," Owen told the girl with a heartfelt affection. Leshia shrugged her shoulders.

"No braver than most."

"Foolish maybe…"

"Rachel!"

xxx

Hermione stumbled through the front door and dropped her keys. She cursed in the dark and struggled to keep herself steady while she bent down to find them. Abandoning them for the morning she shut the door heavily behind herself and glanced up through inebriated eyes to see the kitchen light was on. Determinedly she strode forward to find her husband leaning over a tumbler full of whiskey with a near-empty bottle at his side.

"Make a night of it at home did you?" she asked fondly and swept on Draco to deliver a kiss on his cheek before she focused on the baby lying in the basinet at his side. Without another glance at her husband she lifted Evie from the cot and rocked her close.

"Hello my precious," she whispered before she buried her face in the soft curls on top of her baby's head. "Mummy missed you. Yes she did. Did daddy look after you while I was away? Huh?"

Quite suddenly Draco lurched to his feet and wheeled on his wife. In shock she realised his eyes were slightly red and his expression murderous.

"You have no idea," he hissed.

"Draco? What on earth's happened?" Feeling a little scared of her turbulent husband Hermione cradled her daughter close and took a step back.

"Dumbledore popped round," Draco explained, his theatrics and dramatic voice a result of his drunkenness. "You might wonder why? Well it wasn't for tea and cakes I'll tell you that much!"

"Draco you're scaring me, what's happened? Is it Leshia?"

"Oh you remember our other daughter do you?" As though he had hit her Hermione recoiled.

"That is so low." Draco winced and hung his head.

"I know. I'm sorry, it's just…" The tall man trailed off and turned his hunched shoulders on his wife while he massaged his temples. "Tripper caught her with 'the Secret of Strength' at dinner tonight. Our little girl is going to have to stand trial before the week is through."

Had Draco been facing his wife he might have wondered suspiciously at how white and pale she suddenly turned or at the way she held Evie to her chest as though she were about to be snatched away. All the air went out of Hermione leaving her helpless. That book…

"I mean how did she even get her hands on it? Voldemort searched high and low for it for ten years. How could Leshia have found it?"

"Draco…" Slowly the tall man turned around and stared at his wife. The way she had said his name, the way her voice had mutated in fear made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Somehow he knew that was his wife was about to tell him was going to send him over the edge. "'Flourish and Blott gave it to her and she left it behind, so I posted it to her at school." The explanation fell out of Hermione's mouth in a rush of sound and for a few moments Draco reeled before finally his emotions differentiated into fury.

"_You _gave it to her?" he roared wakening Evie into a surprised little howl. He didn't heed her. "It didn't occur to you that sending Leshia the most notorious book of all time, a book so associated with Voldemort that people even fear to speak its name, was the most absurd notion you could have possibly dreamed of? Tripper's been breathing down her neck from the moment she stepped over the threshold and now you've given him the perfect reason to lock our daughter up in Azkaban!" Evie's scared howls were all that filled the kitchen. "You've sentenced our innocent child Hermione, my little girl…"

"Draco stop, you're scaring Evie," the young woman cried out, her heart breaking while she pulled her baby close to stop the little one's terrified wails.

"I don't give a toss right now!" Draco shouted furiously, his whole face contorted in pain and anger. Once more, as though she had been struck Hermione's face crumpled.

"How can you say that? How can you be so cruel to your own daughter?"

Draco stared at his wife almost in hatred and for a moment all words left him. His shoulders rose and fell and he knew not how to calm himself down, nor make this situation any better. How could she? How could his wife feel nothing for their oldest daughter, when her actions had sentenced their little girl to possible imprisonment and a terrifying ordeal she was not yet equipped to handle. How could she think only of Evie at a time like this?

With nothing more to say to his wife and no desire to see her Draco stormed from the room towards his study. Once he reached the door he stopped and looked back to the kitchen.

"Just think Hermione, think how scared you've made Leshia and how you couldn't give a damn."

Hermione's soft tears joined Evie's wailing and though the sound of it broke Draco's tattered heart he slammed himself in his study with a new bottle of whiskey. His dig had been a cruel one and he had intended it to be.

Back in the kitchen Hermione had slowly sunk to her knees, her face buried in Evie's soft curls, her shoulders shaking from the sobs struggling to escape. Draco's words had cut her deeply, moreover, because there seemed to be an element of truth in them. Had Leshia finally succeeded? Had her treatment of her mother in the face of such unconditional love from her baby sister severed the tie between mother and child? Did Hermione truly care equally for her two daughters as she had always fervently assured herself?

"I just don't know anymore."

xxx

After an uneasy night's sleep Leshia and her friends descended on the Great Hall. As is usually the way, the youngsters felt bolstered by the daylight and no longer did they seem so afraid. Though the school still watched Leshia curiously, she ignored their gazes and didn't let them eat into her confidence. Only one pair of eyes the girl felt she could have done without.

At the top table Silas Tripper was watching the girl hungrily. As though she were a sheep to the slaughterhouse and he a hungry blade he waited for the girl to meet his eyes and when she did he could see the hatred written across her face. Her anger made his heart thump thunderously in his chest and a cruel smile spread across his scarred face. Leshia's hand started throbbing and she tore her eyes from the cruel man who had inflicted so much pain on her. His eyes were still on her, but quite suddenly his view of the girl was blocked by a tall man stepping into his gaze.

In surprise Leshia looked up to see her father at her side and she fought every instinct within her not to hug him in front of the school. Wordlessly they walked back towards the entrance hall and stopped at the doors having put enough distance between them and any curious pupils.

"How are you feeling?" Draco finally asked, after he had searched his daughter's face for any sign of fear and found none.

"Well I was terrified," Leshia replied softly and a small smile wormed onto her face. "More scared than I've ever been in fact, but now, I just sort of feel fine about it I guess. I feel ready for anything."

Her large grey eyes mirrored the conviction in her voice and Draco reeled at the courage the girl hadn't inherited from him. When he had been her age he had been a coward and though he had pulled himself together and turned his life around, he still could not attest to holding the same natural bravery as his daughter, which had come from her mother.

"I can see why that hat sorted you into Gryffindor," he finally spoke earnestly. Leshia pushed him playfully and hid her embarrassment behind a laugh.

"Dad shove off! Don't get all soppy on me." Though her father's words made the girl cringe a little, she felt stupidly happy at his words. "So there's one thing I've been wondering about, what's so special about this book?"

Draco sighed heavily and looked from Leshia's curious eyes to the wall behind her. What to tell the girl about the most infamous book of all time? How much could he disclose without breaking the boundaries decreed by the Ministry controlling how much of the book was revealed to new generations. It had been an act of fear that had prompted the Ministry to act and curtail people's right to free speech and the freedom of information and though normally Draco would be abhorred by such control over his actions, when it came to _the Secret of Strength_ he was more than happy to comply.

"That book," he finally began thoughtfully. "Is a fabled book. It has powers we can't explain nor understand. It's far older than any other book in existence and though it has been carefully maintained, some experts think it came from ancient times. The paper it's written on is papyrus, which was used thousands of years ago in Egypt."

"Well if it was written thousands of years ago then how come it's in English?" Leshia interrupted.

"Ah, see here's the thing. It only appears to be written in English because you're English and that's what you're expecting. Were a French person to pick up the book it would appear to them in French. Or if a Roman ever read it he would have found it written in Latin. Like I said it's powerful and nobody understands the magic behind it."

"That's no reason to be scared of it though."

"No, you're right. For a long time in fact it was revered and kept on display at the Ministry of Magic, but then Voldemort happened and everything changed." Draco sighed and hung his head a little. "Long ago, when Voldemort first came to power, before your mother and I were even born, he wanted that book. And I mean he _really_ wanted it. For years he searched for it, but it had disappeared and nobody knew where it went. His wanting it so desperately twisted public opinion of the book and people began to fear it. In fact his association with it has caused those who know about it to think it a dark magical artefact, one of the darkest in fact. So Tripper finding you with it…well it's not good."

Leshia held her father's gaze for a while before she let it drop. No indeed, it certainly didn't bode well for her. That she had already been suspected not only by the Ministry, but also by her family's friends in the Order of the Phoenix was all too true and to be found with such a dark magical object that Voldemort himself had failed to acquire could only make Leshia's situation infinitely more difficult.

"You're worried," Draco spoke softly. Leshia snapped her eyes back onto his and nodded stiltedly.

"A little," she conceded. "But I know where I got it and if I tell the Wizengamot the truth and if Flourish and Blott back me up then they should see sense shouldn't they?"

Draco smiled meekly for a moment and tilted his head back so as to get a better view of his mature daughter's face. The girl was growing up. Where once panic and anger would have fuelled a heated response and an indignity at being set up in such a fashion, now there was calm and maturity. Leshia was taking the first tentative steps away from her volatile years of puberty towards a future where she might harness her mother's good sense and for a moment her father only felt a swell of pride.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you," he uttered brusquely, forcing his voice to omit his overly emotional feelings.

"You know," Leshia remarked with her trademark lopsided grin creeping onto her unusually pale face. "I might actually start to believe you if stop saying that. You sound like you're trying to convince yourself more than me." Though her expression seemed resolute and cocky, the girl's voice wobbled tugging once more at her father's torn emotions.

"I mean it Leshia. I would never let anyone hurt you." Sensing her father's momentary weakness Leshia shoved his arm playfully.

"Dad," the girl finally groaned, a small smile on her own face. "I already told you! Don't get all soppy. Everyone's watching." Back was the teenage expression in Leshia's face and though moments earlier Draco had relished in her seemingly grown-up attitude, he could not help but feel relief at his daughter's return to her usual self. He could not wait for her to grow into her full self, but that did not mean he wanted her to do so now. He wanted to hold onto her a little longer if he could.

"Sorry, of course. Can't ruin the reputation can I?" Quite without warning he reached out and clapped the girl gently about the back of her head.

"Dad!"

"That's right! And don't do it again," the amused father said sternly, his hands finding his hips. "Now go back to your table and think about what you've done." With a roll of her eyes and a cheerful smile Leshia nodded to her father in thanks and scampered back to her table to find all eyes in the school were trained on her. Feeling the lump in her chest subsiding Leshia glanced up each table of her peers, meeting as many eyes as she could in the puzzled silence.

"Sorry folks," she finally called to them, heartened by her own mischief. "But the show's over."

To a chorus of appreciative laughter and catcalls the legendary girl dropped down onto her bench only to become enveloped by her friends the moment she did. The girl's spirits had been raised and even the arrival of an official looking black owl bearing a letter detailing the time and date of Leshia's trial didn't affect the girl beyond a slight flutter of worry. She had expected this news, but to see it written down was a little unnerving.

"Here, let's see that," Rachel announced, moments before she snatched the letter from Leshia's pale fingers. While she read her auburn eyebrows lowered over bemused eyes,

_Dear Miss Malfoy,_

_We have received intelligence that you were caught in possession of a highly illegal magical artefact at 19:06 yesterday, Monday the 4__th__ of March by a member of the Minister of Magic's department of Magical Security. Taking into consideration the severity of this offence and your bearing the Eye of the Ministry, you are hereby requested at the Ministry of Magic on Friday the 8__th__ of March in Courtroom 7 at 11:00 to stand trial. Your circumstances as a minor and a pupil at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry under the personal assurances of Albus Dumbledore's supervision, have contributed to special circumstances resulting in the Ministry deciding to wave the right to hold you in custody until a verdict has been reached. Ministry officials will be arriving at your registered home address of 43 Dockstreet, Bloomsbury, London at approximately 10:30 on Friday the 8__th__ of March. Should you not be present at this allotted time this will be construed as an act of contempt by the Ministry and you will be remanded in custody immediately._

_With best wishes,_

_Yours Sincerely_

_Ignatius Parrelbottom_

_Department of Criminal Justice_

_Ministry of Magic_

"I love it how they say 'with best wishes' at the end," Rodeo, who had read over Rachel's shoulder, spoke out amusedly. "As though it makes trying to throw you in Azkaban okay."

"It's a total load of utter bollocks is what it is!" Leshia's best friend grumbled mutinously. "Are they serious? They are totally up their own arses…"

"Rach," Leshia cut in with an amused smile. "Bitching about them isn't going to help anything is it?"

"I don't know, she's making me feel better," the young man at Rachel's side cut in with a sly grin making Leshia break into a cheerful grin of her own. Both friends eyed the blonde girl with cautious expressions for a moment, before she let out a deep yet amused sigh.

"Go on then, slag 'em off till your hearts content."

While her comrades broke into reams of amusing rants full of over the top dramatics for Leshia's pleasure, the blonde girl forced her gaze up to the top table, where she instantly caught sight of the beyond gleeful crack of a smile on Silas Tripper's face. The Eye burned furiously at the cruel and bitter thoughts that filled Leshia's mind, yet despite the pain she held his eye. She could have stared at him all day had the headmaster not come to stand at the Runes professor's side to call him away. Standing at the door was Draco, who was staring not at his daughter, but at the back of Tripper's greasy head, no doubt willing him all manner of ghastly ends.

Tearing his eyes away from the subject of his merry mood, Tripper climbed to his feet and filed out with the headmaster. At the door the two hot-headed men seemed to square off with one another, ready to burst into a head-butting match reminiscent of stags fighting over a herd, but they stood down sensing the eyes of the school on them. They had obviously been called into a meeting with Dumbledore and after the venerable man had made way for his fiery juniors followed by the cause of all Leshia's problems, Draco finally caught Leshia's eye. He merely nodded to her before ducking away into the staff corridor and shutting the door.

"I would not want to be Tripper right now, I'll tell you that," Rachel exhaled breathily. "I bet they're having a boxing match right now."

"What? And Dumbledore's reffing is he?" Rodeo sniggered.

"Nah, him and Professor Malfoy, they're taking it in turns to beat the stuffing out of Snivelling Silas."

"Hey," Leshia suddenly laughed. "That's pretty good. Snivelling Silas, it's got a ring to it."

People were starting to empty out of the Great Hall towards their morning lessons, their eyes never leaving the notorious blonde girl until the doors into the hall cut them short. Leshia for one was very happy when her friends started climbing to their feet, following the slow migration towards the classrooms. Muggle Studies was the first order of the day and though Leshia dreaded the treatment she would no doubt receive from most of her teachers, she felt this was the lesser of two evils when compared to the curiosity and pity of the student body.

There was one pupil's interest however, she felt she could make an exception for. As soon as Leshia and her friends milled out into the entrance hall Leshia felt someone fall into step determinedly behind her. She could tell from the loping strides who had come to see her.

"Morning Owen," she uttered softly, before she turned around and smiled up into the concerned face of her dear friend. The fifth year boy paused for a moment and glanced up at Rachel, who in a moment of rare tactfulness started to pull Rodeo away by his arm. Quite understandably Rodeo seemed very unhappy with these arrangements to say the least, but Rachel ensured that he took it out on her several yards down the corridor and away from Leshia's intimate conversation with Owen Gabriel.

"You seem more positive today," the tall boy spoke when he and Leshia had taken a few steps in their mutual direction.

"I feel more positive too. I can't really explain it, but I have this feeling that everything is going to be okay."

"Maybe you've got the inner eye after all."

"Oh very funny." An elbow passed between the girl and boy and shyly they smiled at one another. "It's not that, I just don't think that the Wizengamot have gone totally bonkers yet. I mean Crayik hasn't been able to convince many of them of his crackpot new regime, that's what Dumbledore and my dad say anyway."

"What was that letter that owl brought you this morning?" Owen seemed coy Leshia thought to herself and for a moment she felt a little spark of anger. How dare Crayik and his henchmen impact upon her relationships with her friends and schoolmates!

"Owen you don't need to walk on bloody eggshells! I'm fine, really," the girl grumbled amusedly. After staring sidelong at his friend Owen finally relaxed, his tall rigid body settling into a swagger of sorts.

"Yeah ease up, I just didn't want to rub your nose in it all right shorty?"

"Afraid I was going to cry?" the girl teased fondly, leaning closer to the older boy just for a moment, before she pulled away with a cheeky grin.

"More like hoping for it," Owen countered and he returned an elbow to her side.

"There's easier ways to get me to fall in your arms Owen."

The words escaped Leshia's mouth before she'd thought them through and instantly she wished she could claw them back. Stunned at her candid remark Owen turned to stare directly into Leshia's face, but she was embarrassed and avoided his gaze.

"Look I'd better get going," she finally managed hoarsely. "Before Rodes rips into Rachel too much. You boys and your hormones! Honestly." Quite suddenly she rushed off down the corridor, disappearing into a throng of second years before Owen was even given a chance to respond.

xxx

_Dear Katie,_

_I don't know if you've heard or not, I mean you seem to hear things way before I do and even the fact that you're halfway round the world wouldn't normally stop you, but um, oh yeah, there's some bad news. Now please please please don't overreact. It's bloody scary! But we've got it all under control, well I say we, but I mean Leesh and the grown ups and stuff. _

_So um, it all started with that book you were telling Leesh to read. You know, the one you went bananas over? The one her mum sent her from those to crackpots at the bookshop? Well it turns out it's a pretty dark piece of magical history. And by dark I mean like Voldemort would have sold off all his Horcruxes…what is the plural of Horcrux again? Sorry, I mean yeah, he would have sold them all off to get it. He totally wanted it and well, Leesh had it._

_I bet you already know where I'm going with this if you haven't already heard and I can already see you fretting and blaming yourself. Before I carry on I have to beg you not to do that! Don't send Leesh oodles of apology letters, I don't think she wants to think about it._

_Oh yeah, I hadn't finished. So Leesh got really into this book. She hated it, but she wanted to read it, you know, for you (sorry, I'm not trying to make you feel bad). She had it out over dinner yesterday and Tripper caught her with it. You should have seen him Katie. It was like all the Bogarts in the world were surrounding him. He's a bloody wuss! Anyway, we all had a horrid night imagining all sorts of bad stuff happening to Leshia, but even though she was very shaken up at first she got better after a visit from Dumbledore and well, she's fine with it actually. That girl. I know we always talk about her as being this subspecies of human who's like massively superior to us, but sometimes, I mean I know we joke, but sometimes I think it's true. You should see her. She's going on trial and she's totally fine with it, well, I mean she's scared yeah, but she's genuinely convinced she's going to be fine. Maybe Trelawney and her had a secret get together where the old bat slipped some magic potion into her tea? Who knows._

_So yeah, Leesh goes on trial on Friday…_

_Katie I'm terrified. I don't want to lose her. I don't know what we'd do if we did…_

_I've got to go. We're all planning a quiet little party to boost the house's spirits. It's Leesh's idea before you go accusing me of being tactless. I think the paranoid part of her wants to experience everything one more time before her trial…_

_Katie I'm really __really__ terrified._

_I meant what I said. Don't blame yourself. I know you bullied her into reading it, but you didn't give it to her and you didn't know. Please, try not to feel too terrible. I'll keep you updated._

_Love Rach_

_PS Could you tell Parys for me? I don't know if I can write this all out again._

_PPS Could you give him a punch too for that last letter he sent me. What a plonker!_

xxx

Leshia's estimations as to how her week was going to unfold had been very accurate. Every teacher she came across treated her as though she were a porcelain doll, though few went to the efforts Professor Trelawney gallantly doled out, allowing Leshia to lounge at the back of the classroom and read a magazine while the rest of the class carried on with the lesson. Had Leshia had a penchant for Divination then she might have vehemently objected to such star treatment, but for Trelawney's lesson she felt she could make an exception. Besides, the way Rachel had been turning green with envy had been compensation enough for the embarrassment of being singled out like a dying child by the nutty woman.

Come Thursday evening Leshia's nerves had started to fray. While still at school Leshia could pretend everything was mundane and usual, but stood in her parents old chambers, a handful of floo powder clenched tightly in one hand and her arms wrapped around Rachel's neck, she could pretend no longer.

"You'll be fine Leesh. I promise!" Rachel whispered, her voice betraying tears she wouldn't let fall. "And I'm not going to say goodbye, because you'll be back tomorrow evening."

A sniff escaped the smaller of the two embracing girls before they finally pulled apart. At the hearth Draco, who had come to collect his daughter, hung his head. He hadn't been able to shake the guilt all week. His fifteen-year-old daughter was going to face a criminal trial and it was all his fault. It was his prior evils that had brought this momentous challenge to her door.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Leshia assured her best friend sincerely while her smile wavered and her eyes were glassy. "Don't get into too much trouble without me."

Rachel let out a nervous laugh and back stepped to reach Rodeo's side, who wrapped an arm around her shoulders in comfort. Both friends watched with sinking hearts as the blonde girl stepped into the hearth, dropped her powder and was gone. Would they ever see her again?

Leshia arrived in the kitchen in a whirl of green flames, which she emerged from unscathed. Awaiting her arrival was Hermione, who despite wanting to floo directly to Hogwarts to comfort Leshia when she first found out about the trial had been advised not to by her husband, with whom she had been on frosty terms with to say the least. At last though the worried mother could embrace her child and despite her fears leading up to this moment, Hermione was delighted to have Leshia return her hug firmly. The girl was scared and in this moment, all she really wanted was her mum and dad.

Draco emerged moments later in the kitchen and for a moment he met his wife's eyes with a cold stare before he took himself off to the cabinet to fetch his customary tumbler of whiskey. Pretending he and Hermione were fine for Leshia's sake was going to require all the Dutch courage he could get.

When Leshia pulled away from Hermione the worried mother could see dark bags under her daughter's dull eyes. Where before vibrancy and confidence had shone out of the teenager's face, it seemed to have become replaced by a look of resigned terror that had faded into suppressed and deep-rooted suffering. Forcing herself to be strong Hermione stood back and walked towards the soup she was warming on the hob, her eyes never leaving her daughter, who dropped down at the dining table, her fingers tracing a swirl in the wood grain.

Draco, now back with his drink, exchanged another look with his wife, which delivered to her a message that clearly read, "_You_ have done this to our child."

Though they thought their distinct lack of affection towards one another was too subtle for a distracted teenager to notice Leshia had become aware of it the moment she had come into the presence of both her parents. Without the room in her heart to worry herself over two monumental matters Leshia decided to keep her eyes down and stop her enquiring mind from wondering about all that had passed. It had occurred to her naturally that Hermione's passing the book along to her would seem to Draco an act of betrayal. She had thought about the arguments that might have passed between them, but at this moment in time such ponderings seemed the luxury of a girl not on the eve of the most vital day of her life.

"Dinner's ready," Hermione redundantly informed her shattered family, as both were now sitting at the table awaiting their meal. Seeing Draco sat immediately at Leshia's side, her feet pulled up and resting on his leg while she hugged her knees to her in a position so natural to both of them they probably hadn't given it a second thought, made Hermione want to scream and cry all at once. Why was Leshia making this so easy for _him _yet such a heart wrenching horror for her?

Without a word to either of them Hermione served the soup and took her place opposite the intimate pair. They ate in silence.

"It's good mum," Leshia offered quietly, her expression brightening ever so slightly. Hermione raised her eyes hopefully to her daughter's. The look that passed between them started to soften the coldness in her heart, but before Hermione could cling on to the emotion Leshia opened her mouth to speak again. "Just think, the next meal I have could be in Azkaban."

Hermione's eyes creased.

"_Don't_ Alecia," she whispered, fresh tears building in her eyes. Her chest was jolting in the hiccups of an impending sob and try as she might for her little girl's sake, Hermione couldn't help but allow the feelings to wash over her in a tidal wave. She was powerless to stop them. Months of suffering had left Hermione's feelings raw and easily penetrable.

In response to her mother's reaction Leshia's own face morphed into an angry expression, matched identically by the look on her father's face at her side.

"Mum it was just a joke, there's no need to go mental at me," the girl grumbled, her voice tight from forcing her anger out of it.

"Hermione," Draco warned in a low voice, but their utterances the mother did not heed. It was all too much. The months of hardship had weakened her and with a yelp of anguish she climbed to her feet and fled the room.

Leshia's lower lip trembled as she watched her mother running from her side. Surely Hermione thought her chances slim to be in such a state? Her joke about Azkaban, which had seemed to distant a threat when she had made it, seemed a distinct possibility all of a sudden and without a thought for her pride Leshia turned two terrified eyes on her father and reached out for his hands.

"Mum thinks I'm going to get locked up doesn't she?" the girl mumbled, her voice seemingly changing, becoming more child-like. With white-hot fury at his wife Draco himself trembled slightly, though he was more adept at hiding his true emotions to sooth their floundering teenager.

"Your mother…" Draco trailed off and instead he squeezed Leshia's small hands in his own. "Your mother is scared. She's been under a lot of strain sweetheart, she feels cut off from you and she's scared she'll lose you for good this time." Leshia could see through the falseness in Draco's face, could see his defence of his wife was a matter of course only and that underneath a sea of anger raged. Feeling all the worse for it a pair of tears rolled out from Leshia's eyes, followed promptly by a couple more. The girl had not even blinked.

Without a word Draco stood to his feet and lifted Leshia to hers with one hand under her armpit. Pulled solidly into the crook of his arm Leshia was led to the Muggle Room where Draco dropped down on the comfy settee with Leshia tucked into his side. He turned the TV on and sought out the dreadful programmes the girl liked to watch. Leshia was beyond speaking, which couldn't have suited Draco more, as he could not trust himself to.

Instead they watched programme after programme, neither taking in what was happening on the screen, both their minds wedged quite firmly in the events of the following morning, which to the frightened pair seemed to have occurred already. Their path seemed set, leading them through the series of events that would decide Leshia's fate.

Finally when the programmes started to repeat themselves Leshia yawned and she stood up.

"Goodnight dad," she managed quietly and she readily squeezed Draco's hand when it shot into her own to wish her goodnight. Again he couldn't trust himself to speak and only once the soft padding footsteps of his daughter had faded did the father drag himself up. Furiously he pointed his wand at the television, aiming only to flick the off switch, but instead the screen exploded into light and smoke.

"Damn," he seethed, his voice trembling with emotion. Draco stalked from the room and shut himself in his study with his customary soothing dose of whiskey. Relief though, he could not find in the bottom of the bottle and so after an hour or so had passed, in which he hoped Leshia had nodded off to sleep Draco made his way up to his and Hermione's bedroom. He had not slept there since that dreadful night he had found out of his wife's foolish actions.

xxx

Leshia lay staring at the luminous plastic stars she had bought at a muggle toyshop and stuck on her ceiling when she was only eight years old. She had precariously balanced a series of tables and chairs on her bed to reach the Victorian high ceiling, but despite this perilous balancing act she had succeeded in adorning it with a haphazard pattern of celestial bodies. The fact that she had landed herself in St Mungos after inevitably toppling off her contraption had not tainted the memory for Leshia. Indeed, her injuries had reminded her father that Leshia couldn't be trusted on her own as well as he'd hoped. She had been a terrifyingly adventurous and impulsive youngster and her terrible accident had reminded the young man of this fact. Following this, for a few months at least, she saw more of him until the ministry consumed him once more.

"Crayik," Leshia hissed in the dark, her eyes never leaving the stars nor the far-away memories of her early childhood; a childhood filled with denial. "I hated you for taking my dad away. I hated you for making me lonely. And now this."

Sighing Leshia tore her eyes from the stars on the roof to find yet another artefact of her youth: a diary she had written in her years at the muggle school. Sleep had not claimed her and so with a heavy sigh Leshia sat up in bed and turned on her bedside light. The dog-eared diary was in her hands within moments, bits of glitter and old peeling stickers coming away as she grabbed it firmly.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at page after page of scruffy print, badly spelled words and childish problems. Frequently the perfect and cursive (even in their early years) script of Katie wove in-between the barely legible scrawling of Rachel making Leshia's heart pine for her 'sisters'.

Too much. The memories had become too much and with a snap Leshia slammed the diary shut on a page bearing a picture of the three girls napping on the settee in the Muggle Room. It was the summer they had received their letters. Innocently they had curled up around one another and napped away a hot afternoon in the cool shade of the house, oblivious to the forces that would try to rip them apart in their teenage years.

"…couldn't…just once…tonight of all…"

"…not my…how dare…don't…"

Leshia lifted heavy eyelashes to her door. Draco's fury had finally unleashed to come face to face with Hermione's anguish. The teenager had anticipated this and though she had been waiting for it since the moment she heard her father quietly trying to sneak up the stairs, the sound of their hostility made the girl's resolve, what little there was left of it, crumble.

"Don't," she cried pathetically. "Please don't."

The girl rolled over and hugged a pillow over her head, slamming her eyes tightly shut to block out the reality of what was happening to her, what was happening to her family.

Their voices, rising in pitch and volume, pierced the innocent down of the pillow.

"…strong…only a child…she needs…" came Draco's anger, drumming into Leshia's unwilling ears.

"…I tried…you and her…forgotten about me…" Followed by Hermione's heart break, their voices getting louder by the second.

"…have tried harder…you haven't supported her…she's terrified…"

"…not my fault! She's pushed me…but you, her hero…"

"Don't start…every time something happens…you always pick Evie!"

"It's easy to blame me isn't it Draco? When you're the one who's really to blame!" Their hostilities were being shouted now and not a word of it escaped their helpless children, who both lay awake listening in shock.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"It's your fault Tripper's after her! It's because of you she's going through this."  
"Just shut up!"

"No I won't! Because it's true! How you can stand there and blame me for not supporting her when it's because of who you are that she's in this mess is the last straw Draco…"

"It's easy to stand there and judge me isn't it? Well I didn't have much of a bloody choice in the matter!"

"What does that mean?" Hermione's usually lilting soothing voice sounded so contorted when she was angry.

"I never wanted children! You know I didn't!"

Leshia's heart thudded loudly and painfully in her chest. What was her father saying? At his words the girl's mental anguish disintegrated into physical pain causing the girl to bend over holding her churning stomach. To think that her cherished father didn't want her…to have slaved away for so long fighting for every scrap of attention he was unable to give her in vein.

"Of all the low despicable things to say Draco…"

"Let me bloody finish!" The cruelty in his voice cut through Leshia's tears like a razor blade and she sniffed pathetically, holding back the torrent she had staved. "I didn't want children because of my past Hermione, because of what might happen to them if someone who had good cause to hate me got their hands on them. My fears are justified aren't they? Leshia…she's been made to suffer…too many...I always feared..."

"But…"

"I said I never wanted children…that doesn't mean that you can tear into me now...the day Leshia was born…the happiest day of my life…I would do anything to…she's my child!"

Their voices were fading once more as the volatile feelings driving their argument swelled away. Draco's words had healed the open sore in Leshia's heart. It was true, he had never wanted children and she could understand why, but that didn't mean that now he was a father his feelings had remained the same. The girl knew she and Draco shared a kinship few other fathers and daughters held, their difficult past had seen to that.

"And she's not mine! That's what you're implying Draco!" With a vengeance Hermione's fury was back, stoked into fiery wrath by words too muffled for Leshia to make out.

"Hermione don't…"

"No! It's what you meant isn't it? You blame me for disappearing all those years ago. You blame me for not raising her and now you think I don't have a say in the matter!"

"Hermione that's such bollocks…"

"No it isn't! Well you've got your wish at last Draco, she's all yours."

Leshia pulled the pillow more tightly round her ears, unwilling to listen to the snide whip of her mother's tongue. Who did she feel more anger towards for her relationship with her firstborn deteriorating into embers? Draco or Leshia? "It's as though I'm nothing to her anymore…"

"Blame a child why don't you Hermione." Silence. Blissful silence. "…that girl has tried…you never notice…even when…"

"…not true…she's hardly…stubborn…too blind to see…" Their voices had dropped again, this time quite suddenly. Had they finally awoken to the fact that their children might hear them? Uneasily Leshia pulled the pillow from her head and looked up at the door through swollen puffy eyes. Their tones dropped to incomprehensible murmurs and shakily Leshia let out a whimper. Expecting the worst had passed Leshia dragged herself down in bed once more, bringing the duvet up to her chin, her eyes seeking out the innocent plastic stars on the ceiling, now a dim fading yellow in the din of her bedside light.

"…you hate her…" The girl jolted at her mother's words. What now?

"I don't hate her!" Whatever he had been accused of had fuelled Draco's rage and he seemed louder than before. "How could you say such a thing? She's my child!"

"As is Leshia mine, but…" Silence once more while Leshia furrowed her brow, before Hermione's shrill voice came again, this time desperate. "No Draco! Don't go! No! No!"

"How dare you! How dare you suggest that you hate her! Just get away from me!"

"Where are you going? Come back! You can't run away from this! Go on then! Run and find your bottle! Drink yourself to death for all I care!"

A door slammed followed by the sound of running feet on the stairs. Down below another door slamming indicated that Draco was once more in the confines of his study. Hermione's loud wailing filled the corridor, muffled only slightly by the thick door of her room.

Panting Leshia sat up in bed, her wide eyes staring at her own bedroom door. She was finding it hard to breath. Every breath was a stab of pain, muted by stammering chokes. In the gloom another cry battled for volume against the impenetrable wails of their mother: Evie was awake.

Before Leshia could quite know what she was doing she was climbing from her bed and scrambling across the room. As quietly as she could she tiptoed onto the landing and glanced into the darkness of her little sister's room. Hermione seemed to show no sign of having heard the baby and so without a second thought Leshia crept inside and closed the door quietly behind herself. Slowly she approached the cot to find Evie illuminated by a shaft of moonlight. The baby seemed beside herself, her eyes wide and her tiny heart racing.

Leshia sought her own heart for bitterness, but to her surprise found only solidarity.

"They're your parents too aren't they?" she whispered, unheard over the baby's wails. Uneasily she dropped to her knees at the side of the cot and reached a slender hand into the folds of the warm sheets. Her hand found a podgy arm and she squeezed it gently. In surprise Evie stopped wailing and managed with difficulty to roll over and see who this strangely familiar person was. The two sisters eyed one another, both reeling from the shock of hearing the vicious fight.

"They never used to fight like this," Leshia told her sister, without comfort or anger in her dead voice. "Not before you came along. Maybe, if you're lucky, the ministry will send me away and you'll have them all to yourself." Evie was marvelling at her big sister's face, not knowing that one day hers would be a spitting replica of the beautiful girl's. "They're good parents when they've only got one daughter. I wish it could be me, but I guess I've had my turn. I wasn't a very good daughter to them. Maybe that's why I'm being sent away. I'm not a very good person. Maybe you'll be better."

"Guh!" the baby exclaimed, pointing a finger at Leshia's tears.

"I hate you," Leshia whispered pitifully, the tears that so intrigued Evie coursing over her cheek. Numbness lay behind her words and though she was stating what she had many a time spat to anyone who would listen, now her time had come to reveal all to the helpless little baby the anger did not come. Nothing came. "I hate what you've done to my family…what you've done to them."

xxxx

Leshia stepped into the hearth, a palmful of floo powder clasped tightly in her hand. Her eyes caught her mother's for just a moment before she dropped her gaze to the kitchen floor. Hermione's lip trembled and she dabbed at the make-up concealing her blotchy face. Leshia's own face resembled her mother's, yet she had neither the make-up nor the prowess to cover up the remnants of her night's crying. Seeing them both in such a state when they had ambled down to find Draco in the kitchen nursing a cup of coffee had instated a solid lump in his throat that no amount of coughing could remove. Leshia he had dragged down into the chair beside him and firmly hugged to his side, but for Hermione he reserved no such affection. Let her suffer for the words she had spoken.

To have implied that she hated their firstborn daughter was too much for Draco to forgive. Somewhere in the depths of his reverie a tiny voice of reason was trying to placate the more dominant fiery element of his mind, but Draco didn't heed it. In fact he bulldozed over the rational thoughts that told him Hermione had been beyond rational thought. The woman had been addled by copious amounts of hormones flushing through her system, brought on by hours of passionate crying. She had not meant to imply she hated their child. Surely though, the dominant angry Draco raged, surely that didn't excuse such an act of perfidy toward her own daughter?

Leshia herself had very little to say to either of her parents. She had no desire to let them talk with her over what she had inevitably heard. She had no desire to think of anything other than her impending trial.

After casting the kitchen a look that she hoped would not be her last Leshia dropped her floo powder and awkwardly called out, "The Ministry of Magic."

Swirling flames delivered Leshia into the heart of the Atrium, where instantly she found herself jostled to and fro by a throng of busy people with places to go. The girl clung to the fireplace she had emerged from; her wide eyes searching those newly arrived for her parents' faces. Several minutes passed, but just as Leshia began to worry that she would arrive late for her trial a firm hand clamped on her shoulder causing the girl to spin around.

"Dad," she exclaimed breathily. "Where's mum?"

Draco indicated behind his shoulder with a jerk of his head leading Leshia's eyes to her mother clutching Evie to her hip right behind Draco.

"Ready?" the tall man asked, failing to remove the darkness from his tone. Leshia grinded her teeth and nodded.

"Not really no, but I don't really have a choice in the matter." Draco nodded once before he draped his arm about the girl's shoulders and led her away towards the queue of people awaiting wand weighing. Hermione walked behind them, her head hanging.

In the queue the Malfoys received more attention than any of them would have liked. Whether it was because of Leshia's trial, Draco's infamy or their tear stained faces they had no desire to find out and were quite happy when they found themselves at the wand weighing station.

Eric Munch seemed to have changed little since Leshia's last visit. She could not know that indeed, he had not done so in many years. Only the light and intelligence seemed to be waning in his eyes. Whether the monotony of his job had finally struck him unable to contemplate much else or the ravages of time were slowly dismantling his mind, Eric Munch was certainly becoming far more like an Imperius victim than a once proud wizard.

Upon seeing the Malfoys come forward the man was startled into sitting up, though where once before Leshia had received a reassuring look of solidarity from the man, this encounter seemed marked by a distrustful narrow of Eric Munch's eyes at the sight of her. The girl blinked firmly, but made no other display of the man's suspicion of her. This could not be said for her father, who also had witnessed the expression on Munch's face.

"I see this place is as susceptible to the rumours and fear mongering as it ever was," the blond man spoke before his better judgement could prevent him.

"Draco," Hermione gasped as Munch turned wide eyes on the once Auror, who now seemed to be glowing with white-hot anger. The lesser man quickly averted his gaze.

"Might I remind you Mr Malfoy that you are addressing a Ministry official," Munch asserted with a trembling attempt at strength. Draco's shoulders rose and fell, before he hung his head slightly. It was Leshia's gaze on him that righted his behaviour. She was more important than his hurt feelings.

"You're right," Draco offered somewhat sincerely. "I didn't mean to offend you. We've been under a lot of strain. I'm sure you can imagine."

Munch didn't respond though and quickly he went about the business of weighing Leshia and Hermione's wands and delivering to them a badge to pin to their jumpers. The teenager was dismayed to find her badge read _Alecia Malfoy, Criminal Trial_.

Before anyone could gather to stare at them Draco swept his family away to the Golden lifts. They were given a wide berth and indeed when the first available lift arrived they found themselves alone in it. Draco jabbed angrily at the Level 9 button, feeling furious that his daughter's trial was being held in the notorious 'courtrooms' where all of Voldemort's followers had been sentenced. They were reserved for the most serious of trials involving perpetrators of crimes so heinous the rest of the Ministry felt better for having them as far removed from public space as was possible.

Tripper's doing no doubt.

The lift slowly trundled down until it came to a thudding stop.

"Department of Mysteries," the cool female voice rang out as the doors rattled open with a clink. Leshia peered out into the bare windowless corridor and felt something inside of her switch off. Her fear was gone leaving a nothingness in its place. It had come to this. Being Alecia Malfoy had finally led her into a world of trouble she was not sure how to evade.

"Leshia…" Hermione uttered softly, but the girl shook her head.

"There's nothing to say. Let's just get on with it." With a shadow of her intrinsic bravery lurking beneath the cold facade Leshia strode forwards, her head held high. If she was going down then she was going down as the Gryffindor she was, not as a snivelling tear-stained little girl clinging to her parents' sides.

Draco felt his face when the proud smile cracked onto it to make sure he really was capable of such a happy expression at a time such as this. Leshia was an entity all unto herself he sighed inwardly.

"As much as I appreciate your show of strength my dear," he called after the headstrong teenager. "I have to inform you you're going the wrong way." Leshia came to a halt and glanced from the black door in the distance to her parents standing at the top of a winding set of stairs.

"Oh," she remarked eventually. "I knew that."

"Lih!" Evie was making a grabbing action in Leshia's direction that the girl artfully avoided as she skirted past her mother and down the stairs. She rushed to get away from her baby sister's calls in her wake, careening down the winding stone steps. The sudden arrival of the floor jarred Leshia and she looked up to find she was in a dungeon not dissimilar to Severus Snape's usual haunt. Stone walls dripped with age-old leaks and the light of torches bracketed firmly into the crumbling stone lit the corridor dimly. Along the length of the passageway portentous wooden doors with unforgiving iron bolts dotted the walls. The distance at which they lay hinted at chambers of ominous proportions beyond.

"Alecia Malfoy," a strong and commanding voice boomed from the din. Leshia strained her eyes to see three hulking figures lingering.

"Yes?" she called back, the fear she had abandoned so readily in the lift returning to her now in eddies and trickles of panic snaking up her skin.

"They are waiting." Oblivious to her parents in her wake Leshia walked determinedly ahead, forcing herself to put one foot in front of the other, to drag herself toward her fate. Upon closer inspection the three hulking figures emerged to be aurors Leshia vaguely remembered from her childhood, which seemed an age ago now. They were all casting her significant looks. The tallest of the three nodded to the girl almost in reverence before he pushed his bulk into a door of magnificent proportions. Leshia's eyes glanced inward to find a circular room beyond, lined by purple robed wizards and witches seated in an arena of sorts surrounding a courtroom floor down below. She was about to step over the threshold when quite suddenly she was pulled backwards by strong hands and grappled into a painful embrace. No words passed between Draco and Leshia as he hugged her painfully, failing to believe that this could be the last time he might do so.

As suddenly as she had been pulled into her father's arms Leshia was released and without a look back she strode into the room. The door was pulled heavily shut behind her trapping the girl and her fate within the hands of the fifty or so stern-faced men and women surrounding the circular stage of sorts. In the middle of the room stood a wooden chair that would surely dwarf Leshia when she took her place in it. Age-old chains hung from the arms of the chair making Leshia falter.

'They haven't convicted me yet,' she thought angrily, before she sped up and went to stand by the chair. Leshia lifted her eyes to scan the faces of those who had the power over her destiny. Many wondered at the sight of the renowned teenaged daughter of Draco and Hermione Malfoy. That Leshia's reputation preceded her was an understatement, but now they were faced with this girl, so defiantly holding the gazes of the Wizengamot the gathered members began to realise the stories were not the stuff of myth and legend; here before them stood a child unlike any other.

Leshia reached out and fingered the chain dangling from the chair while she looked from one face to the next until quite suddenly she found herself staring into the wide eyes of Minister Crayik. Needless to say the man was concerned to find the fifteen-year-old striding into the courtroom without a trace of fear. For the hundredth time he assured himself that something wasn't right with that Malfoy girl.

"Alecia Malfoy," a short wizard to the Minister's left rang out. Leshia glanced to the tiny man with a whimsical expression on her beautiful face. A part of her felt comforted at his resemblance to her dear old charms professor. Though this wizard looked nothing like Professor Flitwick, there was something familiar about him that brought calm to her fast-beating heart. He was staring at her through thick horn-rimmed glasses, partially hidden by a mop of curly grey hair. He had a kind face. "Be seated."

Leshia obeyed and sat down heavily on the chair, eyeing the chains as she did so to ascertain whether she ought to brace herself for their binding of her. For several moments she looked at them while the short wizard continued speaking. The girl's eyes remained on her slender wrist, waiting for the painful twisting of the chains roving over her skin.

"Miss Malfoy!" Leshia looked up startled.

"Sorry," she offered quickly. "I was expecting them to, you know, do something." She indicated the chains with a flick of her wrist.

The short wizard paused for a moment before he nudged his glasses down to the end of his nose and peered over them at the girl who had been brought into his midst. Maxwell Pax had been the presiding over the Wizengamot for three years and in this time he had been notorious as one of the fairest members of the group. In the child, seeming so small in the large chair, the short wizard saw veritable whirlpools, layers and all the intricacies in her personality. The young person before him was by no means a wholly good person, but the evil he had been led to believe was rampant and inherent in her character lay not where he sought to find them.

"We have no reason to bind you Miss Malfoy," Pax finally spoke. "We do not perceive you to be a threat."

"Oh, right."

"I was ascertaining your credentials young lady, if you will assist me?" Leshia smiled slightly, sensing an ally in the familiar small wizard. Beside the chairman Crayik was stirring restlessly. He knew he had no control over the Wizengamot or their decision. The last thing he wanted was Leshia befriending his esteemed colleagues with her charms. "You are Alecia Trystin Malfoy, born sixteenth of November two thousand, indeed?" Leshia nodded quickly. "You are currently a pupil at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?" Again a nod. "Very well."

"Commencing the criminal trial of Alecia Malfoy dated Friday the eighth of March into offences against decree number three in the manifesto for safe-guarding the magical and non-magical community of this nation from dark magic and dark artefacts."

Leshia glanced at the tall woman who had spoken. Pax remained watching the girl, staring intently at the girl's wondering eyes. Innocence lay there, he was certain of it.

"Bringing forth the allegations and prosecuting; Silas Tobias Tripper."

A snaking shiver of anxiety washed over Leshia, who quite without warning dragged her feet onto the edge of her chair and hugged her knees to her chest, making herself seem small while beside her, from nowhere Tripper emerged. She couldn't meet his eye, averting her gaze instead to a rip in her jeans. Her terror of the man did not go unnoticed by many of the esteemed Wizengamot members.

"Witness for the defence; Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore." This time Leshia's head shot up and her eyes turned to find the beaming gaze of her headmaster, who had come to stand at her side, his hand on her shoulder. Instantly the girl relaxed and unfolded herself slightly, leaning back into her chair, though her feet still remained on the edge.

"Mr Tripper, please present the charges."

All eyes in the courtroom turned on the slick-haired man who at this moment was staring with severe dislike at Dumbledore, who had single-handedly (quite literally) undone his intimidation of the troublesome girl.

"The charges," he repeated distantly, before he raised his eyes to the tall woman. "Yes Madam Aspera, the charges." Tripper paused to intake an enormous gasp of air before he began, "The charges against the accused are as follows, that she has persistently and knowingly been heavily involved in dark and dangerous behaviour which has indirectly and directly led to events which will resurrect He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named."

At such an enormous weight against the young girl many of the members of the Wizengamot burst into whispers. Leshia chewed the insides of her cheeks while Dumbledore's hand tightened on her shoulder.

"I shall begin by naming the particulars of the charges. Item one, the deliberate secrecy and aid the accused delivered to her grandfather, the notorious Death Eater Lucius Malfoy. She is charged with passing information and intelligence onto Lucius Malfoy in order for him to avoid capture …"

"You're a liar!" Everyone stared in shock at the young girl, who could not hold her tongue any longer at the wild allegations. Tripper's face was grasped by a momentary seizure and for a moment he battled his grimace of loathing to remain resolute in front of the Wizengamot.

"Miss Malfoy, you will remain silent while the prosecutor makes his charges," Leshia was instructed by the tall serene woman Tripper had addressed as Madam Aspera. The youngster turned her angry expression on the woman.

"But Miss, he's lying," the girl tried weakly, only to be silenced by the intense gaze of everyone in the room. Grimly she hung her head and uttered in a pathetic tone, "Sorry."

"Mr Tripper, continue." The scarred man though was caught for a moment staring with vile hatred at the child, before he shook himself from his thoughts.

"As I was saying." Here a filthy glower was cast at the girl. "Item two, many times over the previous six months the accused has been found in possession of dark and dangerous magical artefacts."

"Many times?" Leshia demanded incredulously. Where Tripper was concerned the girl simply couldn't hold her tongue. "It was one book and I didn't even…"

"Miss Malfoy," this time it was Pax who spoke, peering over his glasses at the defensive girl. "You must wait patiently. It is the prosecution's right to deliver the charges. It's how a court proceeding works. You will have your time to speak."

"But he's…"

"You will have your time to speak," Pax reassured the girl, whose face crumpled. What was the point in all this formal rubbish? Why couldn't she just say what she had come to say and be done with it? And to have _that_ man accusing her of all these acts when in truth he was the one who had overstepped the mark. "Mr Tripper continue."

"The final item," Tripper spoke quickly, his eyes narrowing at the girl in the chair, his chest puffing up with a self-righteousness that made Leshia's blood boil. "Is her continuing disregard for the safety of her peers at Hogwarts. Over her three years at the school the girl has willingly risked the lives of other children. She has no concern for human life and is a danger to everyone who comes into contact with her."

"Coming from you!" the girl couldn't contain herself any longer. "The man who locked me in his lightbox for ten hours. I had bruises for weeks! That's the man you put in a school Minister, a child abuser!"

For a moment an eerie silence broke out over the room. Somewhere in the back row a tall person had climbed to their feet, though Leshia could not see who due to the bright light shining down on her and blurring her surroundings.

Everyone was staring at the girl, who seemed to realise what she had finally revealed and was pulling back into her defensive arms-about-the-knees pose. Tripper too was staring at the girl with eyes wide in shock, fury and panic. That Leshia Malfoy was an intelligent girl Tripper begrudgingly admitted and he had always assumed that the girl had enough sense to keep the story of what happened that day well hidden. The consequences of what would happen when Draco Malfoy got his hands on Silas Tripper following such a story had been a secret fantasy of the despicable Runes Professor. He needed only one reason to see his nemesis carted off to prison, just one, but for the girl to expose their dark secret here of all places? It didn't bode well for the man.

Professor Dumbledore, who till now had remained very quiet in the proceedings, took a step closer to Leshia. Though the child couldn't see, a powerful aura had materialised about the great man once more. That a pupil in his school had suffered at the hands of this despicable man under his very nose…it was enough to bring Albus Dumbledore to tears of frustration.

"Excuse me?" the short chairman of the Wizengamot finally spoke softly and he pushed his glasses back up his nose, staring from girl to man in surprise. "What did you just say?"

Leshia eyes darted up, but found the turbulent gaze of the Minister of Magic on her so looked down again.

"In my first term at school," she explained shakily, realising that now she had started down the path of exposing the sordid secret she might as well explain it fully. "I got a detention from Tripper, I mean Professor Tripper sorry, and it was just me and him. There was this chair that I had to sit on and when I did I was trapped in this…I don't really know how to explain it. There was a beam of light on me and I couldn't move. Over my head there was this crackling electricity…"

"Now she is the one who is telling falsehoods," Tripper quickly cut in.

"Mr Tripper you will remain silent," Maxwell Pax spoke with such authority that the greasy-haired man beside Leshia pulled away slightly, his wild eyes darting between his narrowed-eyed Minister and the other members of the Wizengamot.

"I'm not lying," Leshia complained. "That's what this machine was for actually, to see if people were lying. So you can stick me in there and I'll tell this story all over again!"

The girl cast a mutinous look at Tripper, who returned it tenfold.

"Miss Malfoy what happened when you were in this device?" Madam Aspera now asked. Seemingly in the light of such explosive a revelation the correct proceedings of a criminal trial could be overlooked.

"_He_ asked me questions," the girl spat, jerking her head at the pacing Runes Professor. "They started off simple. You know, asking my name and all that, but then he started asking about my dad and my grandfather and Voldemort. He was interrogating me, and every time I tried to avoid a question or I, well, I lied a little because he was scaring me, well every time that happened these electric sparks would jab my arms and legs. It really hurt!"

A smattering of whispers and murmurs trickled into the arena while the shocked members of the Wizengamot announced their disgust at such a revelation. There were few who denied the girl their trust and those few were shortly put down when they uttered their concerns. One needed only to look at the quivering furious form of Silas Tripper to see the girl had put his nose quite thoroughly out of joint with her story of what happened between them. His trial stood little chance of going ahead in the light of the girl's torment. After all, a man who was willing to torture a child to implicate her father would think nothing of bringing the girl to a criminal trial to get what he wanted.

"Professor Dumbledore." As though she had forgotten her headmaster stood beside her, Leshia quickly glanced up when Pax spoke. The powerful aura that she had so rarely seen was flickering about the venerable wise old man and his eyes were cold. Dumbledore was a deeply hurt and aggrieved man. "This information was unknown to you?"

"Yes."

"I didn't tell anyone sir," Leshia quickly piped up, shivering at the shame in her headmaster's tone and knowing she had caused it. "Well, my best friends, but that's it. We all thought it best not so say anything."

"Very well." Pax leaned back for a moment, his small hand snaking circles over his bristly chin while his mind scattered about the recent turn of events. He would need to speak to the Minister in private. He knew Crayik had a vested interest in the outcome of this trial and he also knew that were he to immediately lock Silas Tripper in a cell to commence his own trial the Minister would step in once more. He needed time.

"We are to take a recess. In one hour we will return to determine the outcome of what will happen with today's proceeding. Miss Malfoy, you will go with your headmaster to his briefing room. I will come and speak with you."

"What about the book?" Everyone stared with wide eyes at the spluttering wreck of Silas Tripper. He seemed almost deranged, a look amplified by the hanks of dark greasy hair that had come loose and were dangling over his face.

"As for you Mr Tripper, you will return to your own briefing room. The book you speak of is the last of your concerns now. Be gone from my sight."

Usually a demure and calm man, Maxwell Pax could not keep the bitterness from his tone when faced with such an excuse for a man. The vengeance that had fuelled his attack on an innocent child was clear as day and laid bare now for all to see.

Leshia watched Silas Tripper as she climbed from her chair and followed Dumbledore out. Their gaze never met, as the vile man seemed to have become quite unhinged. His own eyes were flitting between the seething expression on the Minister's face to the ceiling hidden in the gloom. Hands twitching and feet pacing, Leshia couldn't help but feel she had seen this Silas Tripper before in a place where neither of them ought to have been.

Leshia ought to have been unsurprised to find her parents waiting in Dumbledore's briefing room. She ought also to have prepared herself for the white-hot fury in Draco's eyes and tears in Hermione's, but she had been far too concerned with her own predicament to imagine that her parents might have been watching the trial.

As she entered the room Draco and Hermione both rose to their feet from their respective positions; Draco leaning against a desk and Hermione perched on the arm of a chair. They both started speaking at once.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"When did it happen?"

"We could have done something…"

"Why didn't you come straight to me…"

"Did it hurt you darling…"

"That vile disgusting…"

"So upset you…"

"…coward…"

"…sweetheart…"

"Just stop!" Leshia finally ordered with a defiance she hadn't realised had followed her into the room. The girl's parents stopped and stared mutinously at their daughter and for a moment Leshia's eyes flicked to Dumbledore, who thankfully seemed much restored to his normal self.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Hermione finally spoke, breaking the heavy silence with a question that was on everybody's mind.

"Isn't it obvious?" Leshia remarked with a simple innocence that made Dumbledore smile. He had already deeply examined Leshia's actions and had no questions as to her motives. "Dad he only did it so you'd find out and duel him. He wasn't doing it to get at me; he was doing it to get at you. He was doing it so he'd have an excuse to lock you up and a pretty good one at that. So I decided no, I wasn't going tell you!"

Hermione's eyes closed and she hung her head. Despite the gravity of the situation, the fury burning her stomach and the grief tearing at her heart the mother felt a stab of pride. This was Hermione's daughter speaking, not Draco's. This Leshia had grown to be so because Hermione was her mother. Such wisdom and selflessness came not from her Malfoy heritage, it was all Hermione and the sight of it eased her ravaged emotions.

"The girl is right Draco," Dumbledore now spoke, a small smile on his face. "I too feel your shame. I too feel a great sorrow in my letting this take place in my own school, but please, listen to what she says with an open mind."

"Dad that short man…"

"Chairman Pax Leshia," Dumbledore spoke gently, stopping the blonde girl's impassioned speech.

"Yeah him, well he seemed pretty angry at Tripper. Maybe this is a good thing. Maybe this means I won't be going to Azkaban after all." Leshia's eyes flitted to her mother's concerned face before the drifted back to Draco's to see his expression had become no less mutinous than when she first walked in.

"You were right not to tell me," the tall man finally uttered, his tone rippling with anger. "I'm going to kill him."

"Dad!"

"Draco!"

Hermione and Leshia glanced to one another after their simultaneous exclamations wondering at how their voices had adopted the same cadence and pattern. It was as though only one of them had been speaking two words at once so alike had their utterances been.

"And then what dad?" Leshia spoke abruptly, darting her grey gaze back onto her father. "Maybe you'd want to invite me to your hanging as a present for my next birthday?"

"Oh Leshia," Hermione complained with a roll of her eyes. Gone was the maturity of her Granger genes and back was her Malfoy boldness, edging her into blundering headfirst into regardless venting of her feelings.

"Well what do you expect me to do Leshia? Let him get away with it?"

"Yes! That's exactly what you should do. For once can't you squash that over-protectiveness to see that actually this has helped my case? By not bursting in wand out you're helping me dad. Can't you see?"

Draco dropped his eyes to the age-old carpet while his wounded pride sought a refuge to regroup in. Finding every escape blocked by his daughter's sensible words though he lifted his gaze level once more, feeling much calmer now the red-rage was subsiding.

"I want to crush him," he finally spoke, but by his tone and expression the other three could sense the anger was subsiding and Draco would not act on his words.

Draco and Dumbledore's eyes met and the younger man seemed to be assuring his older friend that he would not do anything foolish. Feeling much assured Dumbledore clapped his hands together.

"Very well, I must go and speak with Chairman Pax and the Minister. I wonder how this ugly revelation will impact upon today's proceedings." With this the headmaster was gone leaving Leshia alone with her parents and baby sister, who had been dozing in a comfortable armchair the entire length of the conversation.

"If he _ever_ touches you again…" Leshia glanced up to her mother in surprise to see stubborn anger materialise where moments before there had been level-headed calm.

"I'll tell you straight away, I promise," the girl cut in quickly, worried what Hermione might do if she denied her such a guarantee.

xxx

Leshia retook her seat with a much greater feeling of ease than when she had first done so. In the hour that had passed she had come to believe firmly that her fate would not see her incarcerated on this occasion. She would live to see another Hogwarts day and that she believed so was clear for all to see. Several members of the Wizengamot could not keep the smiles from their faces when their eyes fell on the restored youngster. They had all agreed, the trial was to be negated; Alecia Malfoy was to walk free without a verdict.

With a childish delight Leshia heard the news of her happy escape though she could not help but feel putout at the light telling off Tripper received. Pax too seemed aggrieved as he delivered Tripper's pardon and after a cruel glare cast at the Minister it was clear for all to see that the powerful man had worked his influence. Silas Tripper was to remain at Hogwarts and would not stand trial for the abuse claims. Leshia felt indignity bubbling up, edging her to an outburst of epic proportions when suddenly, as if to placate her with the best news that he had saved till the end Pax successfully quashed Leshia's rising temper,

"Our last matter this morning pertains to Alecia Malfoy's presence on the Ministry's watch list. It has been agreed that as of six-o clock this evening the child will be removed from the list and the Eye of the Ministry will no longer mark her hand."

"Yes!"

A titter of laughter spread through the arena as Leshia displayed her glee at such a statement with a triumphant fist thrown into the air. The girl had made quite an impression on the Wizengamot and after returning to their respective homes later that evening dinner tables the country over rang with talk of that strange Malfoy girl.

As for Leshia herself, within moments of being released from the courtroom she found herself sandwiched between her parents who seemed very unwilling to let her go back to school with the Headmaster. Dumbledore pacified them, claiming that Leshia no doubt wanted to return to reassuring normality, to which Leshia agreed adamantly. In truth, she didn't want to be exposed to the coldness separating her parents and wished to be as far from them as possible. Their wounded expressions as Leshia followed Dumbledore into a hearth in the atrium followed her right into the headmaster's study at the school.

"Please sit," the weathered grey man spoke fondly the moment Leshia swirled into being in his fireplace. He had already taken his seat and was stroking his impressive beard pensively. Leshia glanced towards the door pondering her escape before she accepted that before long she would need to own up to her silence over the torture matter. Wondering whether any other pupils in the school had been brought before the head so many times Leshia took the comfortable seat she was being offered before she lifted her grey eyes to Dumbledore's calm face.

A minute of silence stretched between the pair as they held one another's gaze, before finally the elderly man spoke words Leshia had not been expecting,

"I am so very sorry for the ordeal you have undergone at the hands of that man." Leshia raised an eyebrow, the only indication of her confusion at the direction this conversation was taking. "You need not defend yourself child, I understand full well the course you pursued and your reasons for doing so. All I can offer is my passionate assurance that I will keep Professor Tripper under far greater control."

The headmaster paused staring amusedly at the defiant expression that had materialised, if only briefly, on the youngster's face.

"Please," he chuckled genially. "Tell me what troubles you."

Leshia jerked a little in her seat, trying to skirt around the turbulent anger that had bubbled to the surface. Who was she to challenge Albus Dumbledore? And yet he seemed to open and at ease, so willing to listen to any thoughts she might have. Surely he would not think her impertinent for asking an obvious question?

"Sir…why is he still allowed to work here? Why didn't Chairman Pax, well, you know, do something about what I said?"

"You must believe me when I say I do not mean to patronise you dear girl, but you might not understand fully what I am about to explain," the elderly wizard replied soothingly. "Silas Tripper's appointment at this school is and has always been out of my control. The Board of Governor's attached to this school are notoriously fickle and being that the Minister himself is on the board they have easily swayed to his propaganda that I have let this school fall to pieces. They believe his outlandish claims that Hogwarts is no longer safe and that I have employed dangerous criminals to teach theirs and the nation's children."

"My dad," Leshia interrupted calmly before she shook her head with a sigh. "Professor, why are people so stupid? They know he's not that bad, surely they do!"

"I feel to call them stupid would be a harsh judgement indeed. Think instead that they are frightened. They remember the war Miss Malfoy. Many of them remember the one before that as well. What they would do to avoid another…"

"Employ someone to abuse the pupils?" Leshia cut in bitterly.

"Not pupils Leshia, just one. One pupil and one teacher. One pupil and one teacher they fear. Minister Crayik displayed his political muscles in that courtroom this morning. He arranged for the pardon of his man."

"But surely he's not that corrupt," the girl complained. "I mean, dad always made him seem really decent, really fair. He's not a whole new person just because he's scared!"

"Perhaps not." Dumbledore sighed and dropped his gaze to the dark green leather desktop. "I have seen fear twist even mighty men. Perhaps if Silas had been any other auror the Minister would not have intervened, but Mr Tripper is too vital a pawn for the Minister to use in this instance."

"Why? Because he hates my dad?"

"Precisely, because he hates your father. The Minister wants your father somewhere where he can be controlled Miss Malfoy and he will use every opportunity that arises until the job is done. Now then, the book."

The blonde girl blinked quickly at the quick change of topic.

"I am afraid I will not be able to return it to you."

"I didn't think I'd get it back sir," the girl sighed disappointedly.

"You wished to finish it." It was not a question.

"I was really close to the end. I mean, it was a pretty boring book to get all worked up about. It just dealt with the three strengths. You know, strength in friends, strength in family and strength in self. They were just butting their noses in, Flourish and Blott I mean."

Dumbledore laughed heartily and he took his moon glasses from the end of his nose to polish them on a patch of his robes.

"To hear a child slander such a notorious book," he chuckled to himself. Leshia overlooked his remark and continued,

"I don't know why Voldemort wanted it so badly sir. I don't see what was so special about it."

"Indeed?" Now Dumbledore looked up once more, restoring his glasses to the crooked bridge of his nose. "Miss Malfoy Voldemort knew none of those things. He was a man who wanted to know everything. He wanted to be all-powerful and here lay a book giving empowering credence to three strengths Voldemort knew very little of. I am not surprised he sought it with such fervour."

Leshia frowned and glanced to her hands, her eyes catching the seered mark that was yet to disappear. The clock had after all only just struck one-o clock. Somewhere down below her friends were probably staring distractedly out of the windows in their lessons, wondering what was happening to her.

"It has some powers," she conceded childishly. "Sometimes, when I was in a really bad mood I'd touch it and I'd feel, well, I'd feel good. I would feel strong, but it wasn't worth all of this. Definitely not! If only Katie hadn't…"

The girl's eyes fell lower, wandering over the tear in her jeans, seeking it for answers to a problem she hadn't brought herself to think about involving her friend far away to the West.

"You can be assured Miss Malfoy that Katie Potter is the sort of person who is most critical of herself." Leshia's eyes shot up to the headmaster. "She will quite happily have punished herself infinitely more than you could have done. If you want a nosy old man's advice, I would stave off your worries of hating her when she returns until you see her. Our hearts have a funny old way of changing sides when we are confronted with the object of our feelings."

The headmaster's words rang in Leshia's ears as she sauntered through the castle. She felt as though nothing could touch her. She was free. Every now and then she stole a glance at the mark on her hand, smiling with glee that she had beaten it. It burned with a pointless vengeance, as though it wanted to impart upon the girl a lasting impression of its presence. Leshia though enjoyed the pain, mentally admonishing the Eye, explaining to it that it couldn't hurt her any more.

She hadn't been expecting anyone in the tower and was hoping to fit a nap in before her friends were excused from their lessons, but upon sidling into the common room her eyes pushed past the sixth and seventh years to find Rachel and Rodeo sat opposite one another at the table by the window box. A game of exploding chess stood before them, but neither seemed to be involved in it. Upon Leshia's arrival two enormous relieved smiles burst onto their faces and they were on their feet within seconds.

"You're back!" Rachel crowed, as though she hadn't believed it possible.

"What happened?" Rodeo demanded in the same instant. Leshia laughed at their worry and approached them, only to find herself wrapped in their arms simultaneously.

"You haven't escaped have you?" Rachel checked quickly, pulling back to meet Leshia's pleased eyes.

"No they let me go actually," she responded amusedly. "Turns out they don't think I'm a dangerous nutcase after all."

"Well they can't have looked hard enough then," Rodeo now chimed in, earning an elbow to his stomach for his troubles.

"For your information they didn't really look at all," the blonde girl complained.

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked looking concerned.

"I'll tell you later. Anyway, what are you two slackers doing in here? Shouldn't you be at lessons still?" Quite suddenly Leshia's friends looked down at their feet eliciting a smirk upon the blonde girl's face. "Yes?"

"Well, we both sort of got thrown out of our lessons," Rachel responded grimly. Leshia burst out laughing and threw her arms around Rachel's shoulders.

"But don't think it's because we like you," Rodeo now warned. "I'll have you know Hagrid was trying to get us down to that swamp to feed the Greyfins. I took one of them Weasley puking sweets just to get out of it."

Leshia, seeing through the boy's lie, laughed even louder before she reached out and arm and pulled him into a crushing embrace at Rachel's side.

"You two have no idea how glad I am to be home," she whispered, feeling her eyes prickling.

Throughout the course of the evening Leshia expressed these sentiments a dozen times over as upon the house's return to their common room after lessons an impromptu party burst into being at the sight of Leshia's evident escape from the stocks. What had the girl laughing hysterically was the banner that dropped from the mezzanine level balcony revealing the slogan 'Sorry you're being shipped off to Azkaban' which had been crossed out with a hastily scribbled 'We knew you didn't do it!' beneath. A glance at Rachel's proud smug face revealed she was the mastermind behind the mischief.

"What would you have done if they really had shipped me off?" Leshia asked happily.

"We knew they wouldn't," Rachel replied simply with a shrug of her shoulders.

"But how?"

"Dumbledore," the red head explained. "He came up to the common room last night. We were all having kittens basically, it was like someone had died up here. Well anyway, he told us he'd eat his hat if they found you guilty. He was so sure they wouldn't."

"It's a shame they didn't really," Rodeo now piped up. He'd been listening to what the girls were talking about. Leshia turned a mischievous smile on the boy.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, it would've been cool to see Dumbledore eat a hat."

The party was going ahead full swing. Even the seventh years, who had of late been absentees of the common room, choosing instead to study feverishly in the library for their upcoming NEWTS, were putting in an appearance. It wasn't so much Leshia the house were celebrating anymore, it was their youth. The seriousness of Leshia's situation had sobered the teenagers, reminding them that they were all hurtling towards adulthood at speeds they were powerless to control. Now Leshia was returned to them though, the momentary awareness of the slow march of time had ebbed away leaving them all giddy in their freedoms.

Owen Gabriel had taken a long time to come over to greet Leshia, in fact, after growing tired of waiting for the young man the blonde girl went in search of him herself. She found him sat in a corner chatting with the others in his year group, though he quickly climbed to his feet when he saw Leshia march over, a fond smile on his face.

"Shorty," he chuckled. "Good to see you made it."

"Why are you skulking over here?" Leshia asked happily, casting Owen's friends a quick look that told them she had only spoken such words to mock the lanky boy, not with the intention of offending them. They all smiled back to show no offence had been taken; even Dan seemed less hostile than normal.

"Oh you seemed busy," Owen replied. "I didn't want to join the rest of the house in crowding round you like you're the next best thing since Sherbet Sausages."

Leshia giggled happily.

"What can I say? They love me."

"Hey," Owen suddenly exclaimed, genuine joy in his expression. "When did you lose the Eye?"

Leshia's eyes darted to her hand where her skin lay undamaged, clear, soft and young as it had before the dreadful mark had branded her. There wasn't a trace of the wretched thing.

"It's gone," she gasped, looking back to Owen's gaze. She wanted to explain. "There wasn't a trial in the end. I told them something about Tripper that got right up everyone's noses. They let it drop and said they'd get rid of the Eye too."

"Nice one," Owen chuckled appreciatively. "What did you tell them? That he chucks us out the window if we forget our homework and sits on us if we get questions wrong. That sort of thing? "

"Oh, no, nothing like that, but it's not really that important," the girl countered with a faraway smile. Never again did she want to relive the moment she found herself trapped at Silas Tripper's mercy. "Come on, let's test this thing. Tripper smells worse than a werewolf's fart!"

Nothing, other than the laughter of those surrounding Leshia and Owen. Where for months rippling snakes of pain had accompanied even ill thoughts towards the foul Runes professor, now there was no retribution for Leshia's offensive taunt.

"Anything?" Owen asked with a smug smile. Leshia's delighted eyes gave her answer. "Try another one!"

"Okay. Tripper still wets the bed!" Again no pain. "When Tripper was born he was so ugly his mum tried to send him back. Silas Tripper is so desperate for a girlfriend he's even considering Moaning Mertle because no one else will have him! Tripper's so stupid even Muggles know more magic than he does." Still nothing, save the laughter of Owen Gabriel, delighted to see Leshia entirely back to her old self. For a moment the blonde girl's smile faltered while she looked into a possible future only she could see. "One day, Silas Tripper is going to pay for what he's done to me and my family."

xxx

Over the next few Days Leshia cherished every single moment of her time at Hogwarts. She even looked forward to Potions, though after catching a detention for smiling too much Leshia soon cursed her past-self for being so naïve. Though she had dreaded her first run in with Tripper in Monday's lesson, Leshia was delighted to find as she walked in that her bag drifted off toward the back of the classroom to a desk near Rachel's and that Silas Tripper didn't look at her once in the hour-long lesson. Things were back to normal, with the added bonus of a reprieve from Tripper's bullying her. They were some of Leshia's happiest weeks at Hogwarts since returning after the summer with two notable absences: Katie and Parys.

Time had marched on since that tearful morning when she and Rachel and bid Katie a subdued farewell at the portrait hole and now the exchange pupils were due back. Whereas most of the school were alive with excitement at the return of their friends, Leshia felt only angst. She had tried to follow Dumbledore's advice and not worry too much about whether she would hate Katie for her accidental part in her horrible ordeal, but she was too stubborn a girl. A little pit of anger had been growing in Leshia's heart. Curse Katie for her bossiness? Why did it matter to her whether Leshia read a book or not? Why did she feel she could order her friends around so? Who was she to tell Alecia Malfoy what to do?

Leshia's dark thoughts had only been made worse by the total silence on Katie's end. The girl had not written since she received Rachel's letter and though Parys had informed Rodeo and Rachel that Katie was suffering something chronic, so much so that she'd even stopped coming to some lessons, Leshia didn't want to hear about it. This in turn worried Rachel, who couldn't help but fear that things would never be the same again.

The last Friday of term arrived frighteningly quickly and finally the exchange pupils were due back. The excitement in the castle reached fever pitch. Rachel and Leshia tried to steer clear of people gushing about their returning friends and instead kept to themselves. Rodeo had not their worries and instead bounced about the castle all day, eagerly talking to anyone who would listen that Parys was coming back! The young man caught a telling off for his exuberance in the last lesson of the day when finally Professor Malfoy had heard enough whispering from Rodeo's corner of the room.

"Mr Holsson. One more word out of you that is unrelated to Picklewire Hex countercurses and I am going to send _you_ away for a very long time," the teacher growled across the classroom, humbling Rodeo into a terrified silence. Draco had not enjoyed his day, seeing as every single class he had attempted to teach were too engrossed by the upcoming holidays and the return of their friends.

Leshia gave Rachel a fond smile and rolled her eyes at her father's mood, but said nothing and turned her eyes back to her report on the most effective countercurse for the skin mutating Picklewire Hex. She was quite proud with the calibre of her report, considering her mind had been quite absent during the lesson.

Finally the bell went prompting a stampede of pupils to go running for the doors of their classrooms to run down to their common rooms where their newly returned friends would be waiting; all except a select few pupils who happened to have a select few teacher's breathing fire before them. Draco's class eyed him desperately, but he took his just revenge on them and the rest of the pupils he had taught that day, by rearranging his desk slowly before climbing to his feet. The seconds ticked on while he walked over the to the door of the classroom and reached for the handle. Some of the teenagers were half out their seats and Draco stared at each one until they lowered themselves. Only once each pupil was sat properly did the teacher open the door.

"You may go," he uttered grimly before he jumped out of the way of some of the more desperate youngsters sat at the front. The last ones to slink from the classroom were Rachel and Leshia, who both gave Draco a grin before they ambled out. On their way to Gryffindor tower they didn't speak, dragging their feet a little the closer they came to the portrait hole. Leshia's anger and emotions were battling one another in the pit of her stomach making everything churn the wrong way round. She felt a little sick if truth be told.

"I might just go to the toilet," the short girl piped up when she and Rachel reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Oh no you don't, there's no putting this off Leesh," Rachel grumbled, grabbing the sleeve of Leshia's robe and dragging her towards the portrait. "Beetle bums."

Obediently the portrait swung open allowing Rachel to drag her prisoner inside. The common room was awash with noise and bright colourful gifts from far away lands flying about the tower. In an amidst the hugging teenagers and the energetic gesticulating Rachel scanned the faces for her cousin's, but Katie wasn't there.

"Let's check upstairs," the redhead insisted, while Leshia tried to drag her way back out.

"Or Hagrid's maybe. You know how Katie likes to hang out round Hagrid's."

"Come on Leshia! Move it!" Rachel dragged more firmly while Leshia tried to delay by greeting friends and peers she had missed. Her best friend was having none of it though and dragged Leshia away from everyone she tried to talk to.

"Hey there's Parys!" the blonde girl cried out when she and Rachel had started up the stairs. For a moment Rachel's overjoyed face darted across the crowds until her eyes fell on a very tanned and excited looking Parys, who at this moment was telling Rodeo a story with such enthusiasm that several first years seemed to be backing away from him. Rachel's heart swam with adoration.

"Not now," she forced herself to say, though it was the last thing on her mind. Dragging her eyes away from the boy Rachel dragged Leshia upwards, needing to use less force now Leshia had no more excuses. The blonde girl knew it was time to face her demons. It was time to face Katie.

Rachel pushed into their dormitory first, stopping a few footsteps inside the door. Leshia joined her side, her heart skipping with pent up anger, her eyes falling on Katie. Time stopped.

Katie Potter sat upon her four poster bed, her eyes staring at a picture in her hands. Her trunk lay at her feet and she still wore her coat. Her hair was in disarray, her cheeks were gaunt and her face was pale and swollen from days of endless crying. The girl had tortured herself with blame at what had happened to Leshia and seeing this the anger fell from Leshia's heart. Both she and Rachel stared with torment at their friend.

"Katie," Leshia uttered miserably, drawing the tall girl's sore red eyes. Fresh tears sprung from those unblinking blue orbs and shakily Katie stood to her feet. She had lost a lot of weight.

"I'm so sorry," the heartbroken girl whispered. Leshia was surprised that her own cheeks were suddenly wet too and without another thought she sprinted across the common room and swept a weeping Katie into her arms.

"Don't," the smaller girl insisted firmly, holding up Katie's shaking weal form. "What have you done to yourself eh? Look at you you're a mess!"

"I'm just so sorry Leesh! It's all my fault…"

"Hey," Leshia spoke sternly drawing Katie's gaze. The raven-haired girl stopped crying. "It's not your fault my dad was an evil man a long time ago. It's not your fault that he scorned Tripper a very long time ago. It's not your fault that the Minister of Magic is a coward. It's not your fault Tripper is out to get my dad and is using me in the process. It's not your fault that thousands of years ago some Egyptian wizards wrote a book. It's not your fault that two old men gave me that book. It's not your fault that decades ago Voldemort wanted that same book for whatever stupid reasons of his own. And so it's not your fault that I went to trial. Now you stop blaming yourself Katherine Potter, do you hear me?"

With each heartfelt sentence Katie stood a little straighter until finally she seemed somewhat back to normal. A broad smile had pulled onto her face.

"Thank you," the tall girl uttered strongly. Leshia grinned and shoved her friend now she was sure Katie wasn't going to break in two at the slightest touch.

"Oh go away you idiot," the blonde girl laughed. Katie started laughing too and soon found herself buried under the arms of a crying Rachel, who had watched the interaction between her best friends with tears of joy. Everything was going to be fine.

"Oy!" a familiar voice bellowed up from below. The three girls spun around to face the door, which still lay open. "No use hiding up there ladies! I'll find you eventually!"

"That's what you think!" Rachel called back, her smile reaching her ears. "I bet we could outwit you any day Parys Jackson."

"Oh just shut up and come and give me a hug Rachel Weasley." Like a bullet Rachel was gone leaving Leshia and Katie to follow at an amble, their hands intertwined, both grasping at their renewed friendship that both had assumed lost. They emerged to find Rachel and Parys in an epic embrace that was coming to a close as both parties had taken to poking one another in a battle. It was a battle that was staved however, as the moment Parys saw Leshia he ran forward and swung the girl round in a hug.

"You're even shorter than when we left," the boy teased earning himself another poke, though from Leshia this time.

"Yeah and you're even lankier," Leshia laughed. "What's your point?"

Rachel had moved to wrap an arm around Katie and pulled her into a half hug. Katie was embarrassed to be back into common room looking like such a state, though what had her hiding behind Parys and Leshia's squabbling forms was Rodeo's shocked expression. He couldn't believe how ill Katie looked. He knew more than most that the raven-haired girl blamed herself for everything that happened to her, but this thing with Leshia had evidently taken its toll. His heart ached for the once vibrant girl. Quickly Rodeo crossed the common room and pulled Katie into a hug.

"What's happened to you eh Potter?" he admonished gently.

"Oh," Katie sighed, melting into his arms. "You know. Same old, same old."

Rodeo laughed, sending resounding reverberations round Katie's skeletal chest. She clung to him for a long time until eventually she let him go and smiled a smile of old.

"I'll be okay," she told everyone, noticing all eyes had come to rest on her. Leshia reached out a hand and held Katie's. "Now that I'm home and everything's back to normal, I'll be okay."

XXX

End of Part X

(we are nearing the end - 2/3 more chapters?)

I'm writing a novel, one I might actually be able to publish, hence my lack of updates. I know this frustrates peole who have been following these stories and it frustrates me too as I have an affinity towards these characters that draws me back to writing this story even though I should be focusing on my novel (as an example, I've just written the last 10 pages of this chapter in an hour loving every moment of them, whereas I have spent the last three days trying to get through a difficult ten pages of my novel). This story will be finished I promise, even though I know it won't be finished as quickly as people would like. As to the final three in the series, I would love to see them written and finished as well, as I have big ideas for them, but until I have turned my writing into a viable career I need to focus on original works.

Also, many thanks for kind offers to finish this story, but selfishly I would love to do so myself. As to using the characters, I have always said I don't mind, so use them if you wish.

Thanks for reading.


	11. Part Eleven

-1**Generations: Rebel Inside**

**Part XI**

Draco stepped over the grate into the kitchen of his London townhouse. It was late, as he'd been on duty parading through Hogwarts' endless corridors in search of mischief. He wasn't expecting to find any though as he was pretty sure most of the castle's youngsters would be regaling one another in their common rooms and dormitories with their adventurous tales. Indeed, the only people he'd caught after curfew had been a gaggle of little first year Hufflepuffs because one of them (Draco still wasn't sure which) had had a nose bleed. After escorting the young girls to the hospital wing Draco had seen not a soul, living or dead, on his evening rounds.

The time to himself gave him time to think though and he had mulled over the last few weeks of his life in calculated detail. After Leshia's trial had been abandoned a part of him that had been trapped in the dark since her branding was suddenly released. A shadow lifted from his heart leaving him optimistic. Hermione had sensed this change in her husband and she too had been trying. They hadn't spoken properly since the horrible fights that had engulfed them a fortnight ago, but the atmosphere at their Dockstreet home was distinctly less bitter.

The lights in the kitchen were out, though Draco smiled at the plate of dinner his wife had left him. It seemed engulfed in flames, though the moment Draco sat down to eat the flames disappeared leaving a hot plate of lasagne in their stead. The tall man chuckled; Hermione was a truly talented witch in all areas of magic. He was certain this spell was one of her own. While the brooding man ate his mind drifted back to his memories of Hermione Granger in school. How he had hated her intelligence and her ability in their lessons. Quite an able student himself, Draco had still never managed to best the Muggle-born witch. Darkness had shrouded Draco in those days. He had found little to love and to cling onto. Certainly, he had only looked at Hermione with hatred. When had that changed?

A flash of a smiling Hermione, flour on her face, egg in her hair, while she and Ginny Weasley baked together at 12 Grimmauld Place, jumped into his mind's eye. Her flyaway hair she pushed back with floury hands, her eyes alive with the joy she and Ginny enjoyed together, she had been beautiful. It had been the first time Draco had looked on her with anything less than hatred. It had been the first time doubt crept into his mind. Hermione had seen him and her face had hardened slightly. She hadn't trusted him then. Her reprove had made Draco feel unclean and he had stalked from the kitchen, only to be plagued by that moment in his sleep. Hermione had been a regular member of his dreams since that day.

The lasagne was delicious and Draco finished his plate within ten minutes. Dutifully he washed it clean, not wanting to leave his wife a dirty kitchen in the morning. His study was calling him. Hermione had left an interesting report about a colony of giants surviving in the Himalayas on his place at the table before breakfast and Draco had been meaning to read it all day. A small smile crept onto the tired man's face at the thought of his wife's kindness.

A soft light was coming from the lounge. Leaving his article for another day Draco ambled into the lounge finding Hermione lying on her front on the soft rug by the hearth. The fire was burning out leaving embers, leaving just enough light for Hermione to make out the pictures she pawing over. Draco closed his eyes for a moment. Her knew those photo albums; Hermione had spent weeks grafting the pictures she had recovered from her missing years into lovingly crafted albums. She had wanted to piece together the missing days into false memories. Photos of Draco and Leshia had been salvaged from both usual and unlikely sources. Molly, Ginny and Lavender had provided plenty of pictures for the collection, but Hermione had gone further afield, going to Muggles whose children Leshia had played with at school and the football club Leshia had been a member of very briefly.

Draco chuckled in memory alerting his wife to his presence. Hermione looked up in surprise.

"What?" she asked with a smile. Her husband shook his head and walked slowly over to the woman sprawled out on the rug. Easily Draco dropped down beside her on his front.

"I was laughing at a memory."

"Which one?"

The air between them was static with nerves.

"When an overweight Muggle called me in to discuss why our daughter might be better suited at a different football club," the tall man explained with a wry smile. Hermione smiled, she had heard this story, but she wanted to hear it again.

"Tell me again what she did." Draco met her dark eyes and quickly looked away from the love he saw in them; the love for himself and the love for their daughter.

"It's not too bad really," Draco chuckled. "In her first match she managed to explode six footballs when she kicked them."

"Oh there was more Draco," Hermione laughed, leaning over to nudge Draco's shoulder with her own. "What she did was quite terrible."

"Well," the tall man shrugged. "She might have set the referee on fire. I can assure you he wasn't permanently injured." Hermione laughed heartily and shook her head.

"How you explained that one away I will never know," she crooned happily, before her eyes fell to a picture of a seven-year-old Leshia stood in a field near the burrow. The little girl had a muddy stain on her cheek, ripped jeans, a grubby t-shirt, a tangle of long flowing curls and a look of permanent mischief on her face. The photograph-Leshia kept giggling at someone out of sight, before she dared to pull a funny face at the camera and then double over in laughter. She was a little imp.

Hermione stroked the picture lovingly.

"She was so precious," the mother sighed, glancing to the picture below, which had been taken the same day on Ginny's camera. Leshia was asleep, crumpled in a little heap in a flowerbed. Her large eyes fluttering in dreams, her hands balled into little fists clutching at a raggedy dishtowel. Hermione closed her own eyes, picturing herself scooping her tired little daughter into her arms and rocking her closely. Her heart ached for the years she'd missed.

Draco looked to the pictures too and felt humbled by the strength of Hermione's emotions. He could never understand how she felt. Yes, most of these pictures had not been taken by himself. He had missed all these moments too, but his had been an act of choice. Leshia hadn't been snatched away from him by his lost memories, it was his own actions had had caused him to miss these early years in their daughter's life, never to return for second chances.

"She was precious," he finally agreed, but with a smile he turned the album a few pages on to a series of pictures he had taken. "But she was also a little nightmare," he added with a smile. Hermione opened her eyes and instantly laughed aloud when she saw the pictures Draco had found.

There was Leshia, aged six, her face scrunched up in a furious tantrum, repeatedly breaking a series of ornaments on a shelf in the kitchen. Her cheeks were red and her hair was wild. She had been half forced into her pyjamas by a furious Tally, before the Houself had given up leaving Leshia to run round the house in her pyjama top and her knickers. The little girl in the picture was the epitome of fury herself.

Beneath it lay a picture taken moments later which showed a struggle of momentous proportions between Tally and her charge. Draco had been laughing so much the camera had been shaking, which it did now in the album, stuck in that joyous moment in time.

"She was still precious," Hermione laughed, her fingers trying to stroke down Leshia's tempestuous hair. The little girl in the picture jumped away from the fingers, scowling furiously at them. "I love her Draco."

The blond man stayed silent, his eyes closed while his wife's heart ached. He knew this. He knew it as much as he was aware of his own love for their daughter…both of them.

"I never ever meant to imply I hated her…"

"Don't," Draco sighed. "We both said things we didn't mean."

"I miss her." There was sorrow in Hermione's voice, though thankfully Draco could see no tears in his wife's eyes. It was almost as though Hermione had run out of tears to shed over the state of her relationship with her daughter. "Do you think…do you think she misses me?"

Draco sighed heavily and wrapped his arm about Hermione's shoulders, the first display of affection he had showed her in many weeks. It felt good.

"I know she does," he whispered. Hermione smiled and leaned her face into Draco's neck.

"I hope things are better this holiday," the mother sighed softly.

"Well they can't be much worse than they were at Christmas time," Draco chuckled. Hermione leaned back, her expression amused, her face inches from her husband's.

"What do you mean?"

"Darling," Draco laughed. "Christmas time was bloody miserable!" Hermione laughed too. It felt good to laugh.

"You're right," she finally managed through the laughter. "Anything is going to be absolute heaven in comparison."

"Kiss me."

Hermione stared into her husband's eyes in surprise. His face was arranged in love and longing. It had seemed a long time since he had looked at her in this way. As though she saw him for the first time Hermione's heart ached for him.

"You don't need to ask," she whispered, finding herself suddenly pushed up against Draco's face. Their kiss was desperate, hungry and passionate, making up for the weeks where they hadn't allowed themselves to care for one another. Several minutes later they pulled apart; far up above the baby was crying. Both knew her cries and both knew this not to be an urgent demand. Evie was coming into her own and was merely demanding her parents' attention. Draco's brow creased in frustration and Hermione felt it too. She met Draco's eyes, before a small smile crept onto her face.

"She can wait," the mother whispered softly through her smile. Draco was suddenly overcome with love and he rolled onto Hermione startling her into laughing out loud. "Draco you brute! Be gentle!"

The handsome man pulled away from his wife, his smile ripe with fondness.

"How gentle?" he asked softly, his tone amused. Hermione leaned in and kissed his lips with the utmost care.

"Very gentle," came her quiet response. "I'm an old mother of two you know."

"Call yourself old again and I'm going to beat you woman," Draco warned happily. Hermione met his eyes and batted her eyelashes at her husband.

"I'm an old old hag," she teased.

"Right, that's it!"

Gales of laughter rang from the rooms of the Dockstreet home once more and behind the grand curtains love, which had lain hibernating a while, awoke in a glorious sunrise basking the people within with a deep happiness nothing could shake.

XXX

Leshia yawned as she watched the countryside outside the window slowly changing into the suburbs of London. She had been very sleepy since a hyperactive Rachel had dragged her from her bed at an ungodly hour saying they had missed the train. Leshia and Katie had been halfway out the dormitory when a grumpy Nicola called them back saying they'd been had, it was only six-o clock and would that ruddy redhead please jump out the window.

Rachel had suffered their recrimination however, in that neither best friend had spoken to her for at least two hours. In the end Rachel had become quite upset and the tired pair had given in. They were all in far too good a mood to let silly squabbles ruin things now. On the long journey from Hogwarts they'd discussed their various plans to ensure Leshia didn't have to spend too much time at home with her sparring parents and her baby sister. They'd already planned a week's activities, though secretly Leshia and Rachel knew they were going to have to underhandedly change some of them. _They_ certainly weren't going shopping three days in a row!

Rodeo and Parys had joined the girls half way through the journey. The laughs that had wafted from their cabin had drawn several dozen onlookers into walking past the window, not-so-surreptitiously peering in to see what was so funny. All they saw however, were five good friends enjoying one another. Nothing too interesting then.

Time had been cruel though and before the children were aware of it they had nearly arrived at their destination. The voice of Professor McGonagall wafted over the tannoy that Kings Cross was approaching and that pupils ought to return to their cabins to tidy them up a bit. The deputy head had evidently patrolled up the corridors and been quite unhappy about the chaotic states of most of the cabins. Most youngsters were still in a state of giddiness over being reunited the day before and the age-old train had born the brunt of their exuberance.

Rodeo and Parys had slinked off the to the cabin they had shared with some other fourth year boys to repair the damage leaving the girls to slump down in their seats. Their cabin needed little repairing, save for the curtain that Leshia, Rachel and Rodeo had torn down in a re-enactment of the quidditch match they had so gallantly won while everyone had been away. Katie and Parys had laughed themselves silly over the acting capabilities of their friends, though they did seem suitably impressed with the end result.

In the distance the London Eye appeared in the haze over the city bringing both a smile and a frown to Leshia's face. A part of her was happy to be home, but a larger part of her was dreading the homecoming she was to receive. She wasn't sure how much more of her parents' coldness towards one another she could take and so far she'd only been exposed to it for an evening. How was she to manage two weeks? With every passing moment the days of their happy familial life were becoming a distant memory.

"D'you reckon the parents'll want to hang out round one of our places tonight?" Rachel asked when she caught sight of the tell tale red bricks of King's Cross station looming at the end of the tracks.

"Probably," Leshia replied softly, retreating into her thoughts faster than Rachel's positivity could stall. "I mean we normally do don't we?"

"Hopefully it'll be round mine," Katie piped up, trying to help her cousin's cause in bringing Leshia back out of herself. Her suggestion managed to draw a curious expression from the blonde girl. "Well we never meet round mine."

"You liar," Rachel accused happily. "We're round yours way more than we're round mine."

"Yeah that's because your house's the smallest," Leshia countered, letting her friends distract her. "I mean, no offence or anything."

"Good grief!" Rachel grumbled, a broad smile on her face. "Now you're lying! What did I do to earn friends like the pair of you? Leesh my house is way bigger than yours."

"Yeah right."

"How many bedrooms has yours got?" Rachel demanded, her smile still going strong. Leshia looked up for a moment in thought while she mentally counted.

"Well four bedrooms," she finally conceded, knowing Rachel's house had three more bedrooms. "But in terms of rooms my house probably has more."

"Oh really," Rachel smirked in response.

"Well there's the Muggle room…"

"What about our playroom?"

"Yeah okay, I'll give you that one, but we've got a separate lounge and dining room."

"I don't think I've ever even been in your dining room!" Rachel complained. "Hang on, are you sure you've even got one?"

Leshia started laughing.

"Of course I'm sure you muppet, it's round the back, between the pantry and the Muggle room. And just because we don't use it doesn't mean it's any less of a room! Does your house have a dining room?"

Rachel smirked and shook her head; the Weasleys ate at the large oval dining table in the bright and airy kitchen…or lounging about on the settees in the living room when Ron was feeling lazy.

"And what about dad's study? Does your house have a study?"

"Give over. You win."

"And what about the pantry and the utility room…" Leshia burst into happy laughter when Rachel suddenly leapt to her feet and started attacking Leshia with sharp rib-seeking fingers. The blonde girl wrestled back until quite suddenly both sparring parties were jolted onto the floor by the lurching stop of the train. Katie suppressed wild snorts of laughter before she used a levitating charm to bring her trunk down to her feet.

"I'm going to miss magic," she sighed while she led the way onto the platform where many dozens of her peers had already poured out. In an amidst the rabble of hugging elbows and shoulders Katie dragged her trunk, peering over her shoulder to see she'd already lost Rachel and Leshia. There was a steady current dragging the raven-haired girl away down the platform, so she kept going, unable to stop and wait for her best friends. A very tall red-haired man was waiting up ahead, with an identically tall red-headed man at his side.

"Uncle Fred, Uncle George," Katie uttered to herself with a happy smile. Though she hadn't seen the family for the usual amount of time, indeed, as equally long a time as all the other Hogwarts-bound children of the Weasley family, but on account of her travelling half way across the world the bespectacled girl felt like she hadn't seen them in years, not months.

Through the reuniting families Katie pushed until finally she came upon a gathering of Weasleys. It seemed everyone was in attendance, even Lavender, who had turned up to greet her children before she and Ron worked out a sticky agreement on when the estranged mother could visit during the holidays. Hermione, Evie balanced on her hip, was stood at Ron's side offering him silent support while she waited for her own family to arrive. When Katie arrived calls went round the ring of cheery adults, until finally the youngest of the Weasley adults struggled forward to wrap her daughter in her arms.

"Katie!" Ginny breathed out jubilantly, squeezing her daughter so close Katie winced a little. "Look at you! You've grown again! And you're so tanned. How was it my darling? Was it fabulous? Did you get to see the Incan ruins? Tell me all about it!"

Katie giggled and pulled away from her mother to give her a truly warm smile.

"Later mum," the girl exclaimed breathily. Before the girl was able to truly revel in the sight of her mother's face Katie found herself pulled into her father's embrace. "Hi dad," Katie uttered softly, smiling even more when she felt Harry kiss the top of her head.

"Did you have fun?" he asked quietly, leaving the avalanche of questions for his wife. He had only one question of his daughter. Katie pulled back and looked into her father's curious eyes.

"Lots and lots and lots of fun," she replied genuinely, eliciting a proud smile on her father's face. Harry Potter could sense a change in his daughter and seeing her now so self-confident and natural made his heart swell with joy. He and Ginny had spent many an evening discussing how Katie's trip could impact on her turbulent self-confidence and on the surface it seemed that he, Harry was the victor. He had been the one to suggest Katie would come back a far happier young woman, both with herself and her place in life. At first glance it would seem he had been right.

A flurry of flame-haired youngsters flooded the group leaving Katie to be jostled by the way side. She found herself pushed over to the side where Hermione was still supporting Ron. Katie couldn't remember being so close to Leshia's little sister and despite an instinct telling her not to give in to her curiosity, she couldn't help herself and turned to stare at the ten-month-old baby.

"Wow," Katie gasped loudly, drawing Hermione's fond gaze.

"Hi Katie," Leshia's mother offered affectionately, reaching out an arm to pull the raven-haired girl into a half hug. Evie grabbed onto Katie's long silky hair as she did so.

"Ow," the tall girl exclaimed in surprise, pulling back with her hand on the back of her head.

"Careful," Hermione laughed, pulling Evie's podgy hand away from Katie. The baby evidently wanted to grab another handful of the soft black hair. "She'll latch onto anything you put in her path. She's a little monster."

Katie was still staring at the baby in surprise.

"She's identical to Leshia when she was a baby," the raven-haired girl finally spoke, lifting her eyes slightly to meet Hermione's. The young woman was nearly as tall as Hermione now.

"Now then, either you have a spectacular memory or…"

"Photos," Katie quickly offered with a shrug.

"Of course," Hermione replied with a smile, before she looked at her baby's face, curiously watching the flurry of activity on the platform while desperately wanting to be a part of it. "You're right though and it's not just the way she looks either. This one is another Leshia in the making. Do you want to hold her?"

Katie's eyes darted about guiltily. If Leshia caught her she would never hear the end of it.

"Hermione I'm sorry," Katie whispered, seeing Hermione's smile fall a little and feeling wretched deep inside. "It's not that I don't want to. It's just that…"

"Don't you worry," the mother replied quickly, reaching out a hand to squeeze Katie's shoulders. "I know how hard it is to be in the middle of things. You should have seen your father and Ron when they were in school. My God could they argue and I was always smack bam in the middle of it."

Katie giggled, before quite suddenly a tall figure stepped between her and Hermione. Tactfully the bespectacled girl looked away while Draco kissed his wife lovingly, though secretly a small smile was fighting to crawl onto her face. Surely things couldn't be too bad between Leshia's parents if this was how they greeted one another?

A stream of babbles escaped Evie's smiling mouth when she saw her father, though in this moment Draco seemed only to have eyes for Hermione. This is how Leshia happened across them from across the gathering of old friends and family. A small part of the teenager wanted to wretch at seeing her parents kissing, but another, much larger part started dancing in her heart. Her parents weren't fighting anymore, they were still in love!

The blonde girl was so happy she didn't even notice her baby sister attached to her mother's hip. Instead she surged forward through the reuniting Weasleys and pushed herself between her parents, giving her mother such a firm hug Hermione mistook the girl's arms for Draco's. Only when she opened her eyes did she see what had happened. Joy flooded Hermione's senses and without realising why she suddenly had free arms (Draco had quickly relieved his wife of her baby-holding duties the moment Leshia had appeared between them) the relieved mother stooped low and dragged her teenaged daughter into a powerful embrace.

"I've missed you," Hermione uttered through an inhalation of breath, in which she took in her daughter's scent. It brought comfort to her instantly.

"I've missed you too," Leshia whispered.

"Lih! Leh, Laah! Lih-Leh!" Evie had spotted her sister and was garbling sounds to get the girl's attention. Two grey eyes opened and peered from Hermione's shoulder at the interloper. Her heart may have softened to her mother, but it hardened instantly at the sight of her sister. Not wanting to take it out on Hermione Leshia turned the other way and remained in the hug. She didn't care for her angst right now, all she wanted was her parents, together, happy and in love.

"Right then, drinks at ours?" Harry proposed to the smiling group. It had been a long time since such a feeling of well-being had descended on them all. A round of 'hear-hears' went round the ring while Rachel stuck her tongue out at Katie; her cousin had got her wish.

With several children grappling on to arms the adults apparated (sometimes in several goes) their offspring and their belongings to the sprawling Potter Manor. As soon as they arrived the youngsters disappeared into the depths of the house to play and gossip leaving the large group of friends to slink into the kitchen where Harry opened a bottle of champagne.

"What are we celebrating?" Ginny asked fondly, rubbing her Husband's shoulders as she walked past to get the flutes out. Harry grinned and nodded to Hermione, who seemed so deliriously happy her face reminded him eerily of the time Ron had been poisoned by love potion in their sixth year.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Oh shut up Harry," Hermione laughed, flicking a stray cereal flake on the counter at her friend.

"No, this does require a celebration," Draco countered firmly. "This is the first time Harry's been the one to provide the alcohol for one of these shindigs."

"Filthy lies!" Ginny crowed over the laughter of the kitchen. "It's not his fault you monopolise the drinking round here Draco. Now make yourself useful and put that sleeping baby of yours in one of the bedrooms before she wakes up and ruins the party."

XXX

"Did you two notice that Parys' hair has little blond streaks in it now?"

Leshia and Katie exchanged fond smiles and shrugged their shoulders in unison. The three girls were relaxing in the beer garden of the Leaky Cauldron, watching people amble in and out of Diagon Alley every now and then laden down with shopping bags or chattering excitedly to whomever would listen about which establishments they wanted to visit. The girls had watched several Hogwarts pupils go by in gaggles of friends or chaperoned by hassled looking parents. They had been quite lucky to get a table in the busy dusty strip of land the proprietor of the tavern had recently decided to turn into a beer garden during the fine weather. His gamble had paid off, and the sun trap was a routine stop for travellers in and out of the alley.

Rachel had been absent-mindedly mentioning young Mr Jackson all morning, revealing the extent to which she had been thinking about him. Leshia and Katie were trying their utmost to be tactful and hadn't said a word about their friend's evident adoration of the boy.

"No, I didn't really notice," Leshia finally replied with a grin, before she sipped at her pumpkin juice to smother her laughter.

"Really? I thought it was really obvious on the train yesterday."

"I noticed," Katie responded, before she added in a hesitant undertone, "Sort of."

"Well you saw him everyday when you were out there. You probably wouldn't notice and Leesh is just plain unperceptive."

"Hey!" Leshia laughed. "I notice things! Like I noticed you flicking through Katie's dictionary last night. Unperceptive my arse, do you even remember what it means?"

"Yeah, it means short blonde girls have problem with their vision because they're too small to see over everyone else," Rachel countered, her smile showing her fondness for her friend. Leshia wanted badly to retort, but Katie had started laughing far too loudly for her to be heard over.

"What?" the blonde girl asked instead.

"I've missed you two," the bespectacled girl managed through her laughter. "And it's _im_perceptive, not unperceptive."

Leshia and Rachel turned to stare at each other with bemused expressions.

"Yeah I knew that," Leshia finally complained with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders.

"Me too. I knew it first."

"Oh shove off!"

The two friends started shoving one another while Katie happily stared at a newly arrived couple strolling and in hand through the brick opening that had opened to allow them passage into the pub yard.

"Ryan! Julia!" the tall girl called out, waving her hand at the once Gryffindors. At her call Leshia and Rachel promptly stopped shoving one another and glanced up to see the happy couple heading over with beaming smiles. Without a second thought Leshia jumped to her feet and ran over to her old quidditch captain. At the last minute Ryan lifted his hand out of Julia's grasp and prepared himself for the ecstatic embrace of the young girl he corresponded with on a regular basis. He and Leshia had never stopped being fond of one another and she regularly filled him in on her antics at school.

"Shorty," the tall man chuckled when the girl nearly bowled him off his feet. "Look at you, you're a giant."

"No I'm not," Leshia laughed, though she blushed at the compliment.

"Well okay, maybe not a giant, but you've grown."

"Hi Julia," the blonde girl quickly greeted Ryan's girlfriend. "How are you?"

There was a glow of happiness surrounding the woman. Leshia could almost see sparkles of joy radiating from her.

"Very very good," the young woman replied. Leshia frowned slightly, but didn't have time to wonder at Julia's inexplicable good mood as Ryan had started talking again. Leshia looked at him and saw he was starting to grow a beard. He looked older.

"We've just been looking for you down Diagon Alley," the young man explained cheerily.

"How did you know I was there?"

"We went round yours first. Your mum pointed us in the right direction. You're a hard one to find you know that?"

"Too many enemies," the girl replied with a roll of her hand. Ryan smiled at her joke and nodded.

"I get it."

"Why were you trying to find me?" Ryan and Julia exchanged an ecstatic smile that made something in Leshia lurch to attention. Somehow she knew was Ryan was about to say.

"Well, we've got some good news actually. We're getting married."

"Yes!" Leshia cried out, jumping forward and hugging both Ryan and Julia simultaneously. They laughed while Leshia garbled her congratulations in a stream of excited sounds. At the table Katie and Rachel called their congratulations to chorus their blonde friend.

"Thanks," Julia giggled when Leshia pulled back. "We're pretty excited about it too."

"When are you getting married?" the short girl asked happily.

"End of August," Ryan replied, before he glanced once more to Julia to check whether it was the right time to ask. The young woman smiled and nodded in a way that told him to 'go ahead'. Leshia's smile dropped to a puzzled expression. "We want you to be one of the bridesmaids."

"Oh," Leshia uttered, her expression wide in surprise. "Me? Why?"

Ryan and Julia laughed loudly, while Ryan reached out to ruffle Leshia's long curls. The girl pulled away from his hand with a fond smile on her face.

"I'm not eleven anymore Ryan," she grumbled playfully.

"No, but that's how I'll always see you."

"Leshia Ryan and I might not have got together if it hadn't been for that party you threw at Halloween. We've always think about you when we talk about that day," Julia explained graciously, her eyes glowing with a deep joy. Leshia felt indescribably touched and averted her eyes slightly at the strength of the emotion rippling through her.

"It's not just that," Ryan added. "I mean, yeah, it's that, but the other bridesmaid are Taylor and Becka, our sisters. And you're like a little sister to me too shorty. It wouldn't be right if you weren't there as well."

A goofily proud smile pulled onto Leshia face before she lunged forward and hugged the engaged couple powerfully.

"I'll do it," her muffle voice came from somewhere near their armpits.

"Of course you'll do it," Ryan chuckled. "We weren't giving you a choice in the matter."

"I mean, you know, thanks for thinking of me and everything," the girl quickly offered, pulling back with a wry smile.

"We've already got the dresses, they were made by Madam Silvergrace especially," Julia now started speaking drawing Leshia's gaze. Behind her Katie made a strangled cry, which Leshia ignored. "Taylor and Becka are coming round Saturday to do a fitting. Do you think you could make it?"

Quickly Leshia nodded. "Yeah, sure." Julia smiled graciously.

"Great! We were thinking around three. Is that okay for you?" Again Leshia nodded and quickly reached out to accept a piece of paper Julia was thrusting in her direction. "Here's the address. It's in Clapham. Do you know how to get there?"

"I'll get my mum to come," Leshia responded before she thought the implications through. After the way she had been acting, could she really ask her mother a favour? And what if she wanted to bring the interloper?

"Good idea," Julia responded with a smile. "Well I'll see you Saturday then."

"Oh okay, yeah sure."

"Be good shorty," Ryan put in, giving Leshia a small one armed hug before he and Julia headed toward the pub giving Leshia's friends a wave goodbye as they went. Once the door had clanged shut behind them the blonde girl scrambled back to her chair, her expression still shocked.

"I'm so jealous," Katie grumbled the moment Leshia joined them.

"What? Why? I'm sure you'll be a bridesmaid too one day."

"No not about that. I mean that's great and everything, but, oh! It's so much more than that."

"It's about the stupid dress," Rachel cut in wryly, her expression withering. Leshia suppressed and smile.

"Yes, it's about the dress. Madam Silvergrace Leshia! Do you remember last year's beauty pageant?"

"Oh God don't remind me," the small girl grumbled throwing her hands up to her face to stop flashes of embarrassing memories overwhelming her. How she wished she could blot that day out of existence.

"Well do you remember the voucher you won?"

"Vaguely." Leshia's hands still covered her face.

"The really expensive boutique on Diagon Alley? Well that's who's made the bridesmaid dresses. I bet they're amazing. You get to keep bridesmaid dresses you know."

"Fabulous. I can give it to you then." A snort of laughter escaped Rachel, causing Leshia to pull her hands from her face and throw the redhead an amused smirk.

"Like anything that fits you will fit this beanpole!" Katie's eyes went wide in anger, so Rachel quickly added, "No Katie, not because you're a great big porker. It's just because you know, you're nearly twice as tall as Leshia."

"Bugger off," Leshia laughed, reaching out to deliver a thump to her best friend's arm. "Didn't you hear Ryan? _I've_ grown."

"He was trying to sweet talk you so you'd say yes."

"He was not!"

"Right that's it," Katie announced, climbing to her feet with a grin on her face. "Shall we go back to yours Leesh? I feel like sunbathing and Michael's go all his little third year friends round today so there's no way I'm getting into a bikini with them around."

"Strikes me as exactly the sort of thing you'd be into," Rachel remarked earning herself a punch to her other arm. "Easy! I was just joking."

Leshia had also climbed to her feet cracking up and set off into the pub with her friends in her wake arguing fondly once more. The walk back to Dockstreet was a slow one owing to the girl's laziness on the bright sunny day and the busy hoards of shoppers revelling in the fine weather and the spring sales. Finally the tall grand townhouses of Leshia's street came into view and the girls burst into a childish race. Leshia outpelted the others with Rachel coming a close second. Katie arrived a good five minutes later. Her heeled boots hadn't allowed her the same leverage Leshia and Katie's trainers had given them and by the time she reached the house the other two had ambled in leaving their bags in the middle of the hall. Katie wandered in panting to find Rachel and Leshia in the kitchen where Hermione had just looked up from an enormous dusty relic. She was wearing a strange device over her left eye and her hair was wild. She still wore her pyjamas and had evidently been hard at work since the moment she woke up.

"Hi girls," the scruffy woman called out, pulling the magnifying device from her eyes returning them to their normal size.

"Hi mum," Leshia spoke softly while Katie and Rachel offered more exuberant greetings. A part of Leshia was still slightly uncomfortable. How was she supposed to act now? Was she still angry with her mother? Was she merely relieved that her and Draco weren't getting a divorce that she had masked her true feelings with relief? Why did everything have to be so confusing?

"Have you had a good morning?" Hermione asked, yawning while she pulled away from the dusty relic.

"Yeah, it was great," Katie replied.

"We just bumped into Ryan and Julia, they're getting married!"

"Are they?" the woman at the table gasped, clasping her hands together happily. "That's wonderful news! I'm so happy for them."

"Yeah, they asked Leesh to be a bridesmaid too."

Hermione's wide eyes darted to her daughter who smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

"It's no big deal," the blonde girl uttered softly. Hermione respected Leshia's awkwardness and simply nodded.

"It's good news," the mother said softly. She wanted to scream with excitement, but remained coy about her own joy. She would let Leshia set the pace of the rebuilding pf their relationship.

"Yeah. Say, I was wondering," the girl spoke awkwardly. Hermione remained very quiet, her expression neutral. "On Saturday. Are you busy?"

The girl's mother ignored that she had a hair appointment in the morning and afternoon tea with Ginny booked in at a lovely new teashop on Diagon Alley. Instantly she swept her schedule clean.

"No, not busy. Why?"

"Well Julia asked me if I could try the dress on at about three. I was wondering…would you please come with me? I don't really want to go on my own and it's in Clapham. I've got no idea how to…"

"Darling," Hermione interrupted happily. "Of course I'll come with you. Don't be silly. Do you have the address?"

Leshia fished a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket and reached out to hand it to her mother. Hermione took it and studied the address before she climbed to her feet and rested the scrap against a vase on the shelf.

"Do you girls want something to eat or drink?" she asked the youngsters, who were already heading out the kitchen.

"No thanks," they all replied in unison.

"We were just at the Cauldron," Leshia explained, before the trio clunked loudly up the stairs. Hermione closed her eyes, hoping they wouldn't wake Evie from her afternoon nap. Leshia seemed so normal; Hermione wanted to clasp on to her behaviour as long as possible before an incident between her daughters ruined everything once more. That things between eldest child and mother seemed on the mend was something Hermione wasn't taking anything for granted; she knew everything could change at the drop of a hat.

Upstairs Leshia was fumbling through the messy top drawer of her chest of drawers to fish out every bikini she owned for Katie to paw through and find a suitable set to wear in the back garden. Rachel had gleefully suggested, "Why bother? They won't fit anyway," and had received a pillow to the head for her efforts. The redhead had no desire to sunbathe, it only turned her sensitive skin more freckly than it already was, but she could see with a small disparaging sigh that where Leshia would have normally joined her in the shade, the small girl was grabbing a bikini for herself.

"Since when have you cared about having a tan Leesh?" Rachel asked, forcing herself to sound light-hearted. Leshia saw through her friend's falsehood and cast her best friend a frowning expression.

"Well if I'm going to be a blimming bridesmaid I've got to look okay don't I? Don't you remember hearing about Rebecca Walling? She was the fittest girl in the school in her day. Well, so Luke and Tom say anyway."

Rachel snorted with laughter.

"I can't believe _you _of all people are competing to be the most beautiful bridesmaid!" Leshia threw a stray sock at the flame-haired girl.

"I'm not competing. I just want to look, well, okay. You know?"

Rachel didn't want to mock Leshia's insecurity and instead she shrugged her shoulders.

"I think you'll do just fine Miss Hogwarts runner up." Leshia rolled her eyes and turned her back on Rachel missing the sad smile that crossed the girl's face. Now Leshia was changing too. Why was it that Rachel always seemed to be the last to grasp what the other two always seemed to know years in advance?

While Leshia and Katie changed Rachel's eyes fell on Leshia's childhood diary, still lying on the bedside table from where Leshia had left it two weeks ago before her trial. The redhead grinned broadly and she picked the flaking mammoth of a book up and started flicking through the pages. She could remember each scrawled page and each picture. It was like looking back in time. Her eyes came to rest on a picture taken when the girls were nine years old. They were all wearing muddy jeans and t-shirts. Their hair was in disarray and none of them wore shoes.

Rachel looked to the nine-year-old version of herself, happily slurping at an ice cream and she sighed inwardly. She still associated with that Rachel, while looking up from the nine-year-old Katie, happily scratching at a scab on her shoulder to the Katie now preening herself in a mirror, admiring her skinny physique in the mirror, the redhead knew this wasn't even the same girl anymore. Nine-year-old Leshia kept disappearing behind the picture's edge, only to be proffered back in by Ginny's arm. Leshia had been in a sulk that day and didn't want her picture taken. The girl looked so young in her tumultuous expression. Rachel smiled, remembering how grumpy Leshia had been that day (owing to Draco not appearing for a barbeque at the burrow when he had promised he would). Glancing up at Leshia now, cautiously glancing at herself behind Katie's dominance of the mirror Rachel felt doubly sore. Leshia had changed out of reach too leaving Rachel alone.

"You know," the freckled girl spoke up drawing both Katie and Leshia's curious gazes. "Ryan's right. You have grown, you're nowhere near as short as you used to be."

There was truth in the redhead's words. Slowly, but surely Leshia was catching up, she just hadn't opened her eyes to see it. Surely the notoriously-short girl was nearly as tall as herself?

"Rach," Leshia complained through a beaming smile. "Just because you've been on a ant at us today doesn't mean you have to attack us with compliments you know."

"I haven't been on a rant," Rachel complained happily. "It's true. Look." To prove her point Rachel climbed off Leshia's bed and went to stand with her friends in front of the mirror. Katie dutifully stepped aside and looked in amazement as Rachel stood beside their blonde friend. How had they all missed it? Leshia stood less than an inch shorter than her flame-haired friend.

"Oh my God!" Leshia squealed beyond happiness. "Look! I'm nearly as tall as you! I'm not short anymore! When did that happen?"

"It can't have been too long ago, you weren't this tall before I went away," Katie observed.

"Mum!" Leshia ran from the room, grabbing an overly large T-shirt as she went to pull over he bikini-clad body. "Mum! Measure me! I'm huge! I'm as tall as Rachel!"

The girl's voice wafted down the stairs while Rachel turned an amused smile on her cousin.

"Are you okay Rach?" Katie asked softly, reaching out to drape her arm around Rachel's shoulders. The redhead shrugged.

"I feel weird. Must be the sun, it always makes me go a bit weird.

"Rach, I hate to tell you this, but you're always a bit weird!" Laughter wafted out of Leshia's bedroom while Hermione led an excitable Leshia upstairs to lean her against the doorframe in hers and Draco's room. Surely enough, once a pencil had marked on Leshia's new height, it transpired that the fifteen-year-old had grown several inches over the last year. She was nearly as tall as her mother, which brought great satisfaction to Leshia's face.

"I've got to tell dad! Where is he anyway?"

"The Ministry. They called him in," Hermione explained dryly, her expression matching Leshia's indignation when she next spoke.

"The Ministry? After everything they did to me? He's still grovelling at their feet?"

"No darling, he's not grovelling…"

"He may as well be."

"I don't like it anymore than you do, but you're father feels like he owes them something," Hermione tried to explain. A flash flew in front of Leshia's eyes, a flash of an eighteen-year-old Draco strangling a man in a ditch while panic waged around him. The girl shook the dirty memory away. Her father's past was a minefield of unpleasant memories. She understood why he sought so desperately for salvation.

"He doesn't though does he?" Leshia asked softly. "Not them anyway."

Hermione smiled at her wise daughter's remark.

"No, he doesn't owe them anything, certainly not Minister Crayik, but he has to make amends somehow and by helping the ministry he's making some sort of effort. Besides, he's helping Storik, not Minister Crayik."

"I guess he thinks it's better than nothing."

"Exactly."

"Well when he gets back don't tell him, I want to surprise him."

"Alright sweetheart." A fond look passed between mother and daughter before Leshia rushed back to her room to find her friends ready to saunter out into the garden to enjoy a happy afternoon in the sunshine.

XXX

Leshia pushed herself close to Hermione's arm while her mother apparated them to the stairwell of the Clapham apartment building the following Saturday. The week had flown by and it was time for Leshia's dress fitting. Hermione had managed to subdue her daughter, who had been bothering her for the last hour, demanding to know whether it was time to go yet. Even the fact that Hermione had been changing Evie hadn't stopped the girl, who had marched right up to her mother and baby sister as though Evie weren't even there. Hermione had been left smiling at Evie's curious face after Leshia had marched out having heard there were still twenty minutes to go.

The week had been heaven for Hermione. It would seem Leshia was really trying and despite her evident hatred of her little sister, the girl was trying her hardest to patch things up with her mother. The whole family was benefiting from the change in dynamics and family dinners had been a delight. Draco had a permanent smile on his face and every night he went to sleep with Hermione wrapped in his arms, a smile lingering on her face even in her dreams. Draco had been left in the kitchen holding a struggling Evie while Leshia clung to her mother to apparate to the South London apartment building.

"It's flat three isn't it?" Hermione checked while leading her nervous daughter up the modern sterile stairwell. Leshia nodded, her jaw locked in nerves. Just why she was nervous she couldn't say, but ever since Hermione had revealed that it was time to go a persistent butterfly had started doing loop-da-loops in her stomach. Flat three was on the second floor and after checking Leshia was following up the stairs Hermione knocked firmly on the door. A bright faced young woman answered.

"Hello," she greeted happily, looking from Hermione to Leshia lingering in the stairwell behind. "You must be Miss Granger. My sister's told me all about you. And this is the famous Leshia surely?"

"The very same," Hermione chuckled, beckoning her fifteen-year-old daughter forward with a quick wave of her hand. "Come on darling."

Leshia forced herself to be brave and walked up to her mother's side.

"Hi," the girl offered firmly.

"Hello," the young woman smiled warmly. "I'm Becka, Julia's sister. Come in, come in, everyone's in the living room. Well, if you can call it a living room. Why Julia and Ryan chose this poky place is beyond me. It's supposedly quite trendy, but all I see is walls, walls, walls."

Becka led the way into the flat, which as she had vocally expressed was quite a small little place. The kitchen seemed to be the lounge and the dining room all in one and packed with so many women as it was, made it feel very poky. A big round of 'hellos' went round as Leshia and Hermione appeared. Becka introduced them to Diane, Anna, Patricia, Jean, Wendy and Taylor. Leshia lost track of who was whose mother, aunt and grandmother and instead fixed her eyes on Ryan's little sister. The girl was eleven years old and tiny like herself. Indeed, with her mousy curly hair and spirited little face, there was more than a passing resemblance to Leshia in her early days at Hogwarts. No wonder she had reminded Ryan of his little sister. Taylor stormed forward upon Leshia's arrival and shook her hand firmly.

"I'm going to be in Hogwarts next year," the girl announced proudly. "I hope I'll be in Gryffindor. You're in Gryffindor aren't you?" At her boldness Leshia felt her own returning.

"Yeah I am. Are you brave?" The small smiled on Leshia's face told the younger girl she was being kind and quickly Taylor nodded.

"Yeah I'm really brave! I'm sure I will be. Ryan's telling me all the time I will be. Can I try out for the Gryffindor team when I'm in?"

Leshia smiled broadly; Taylor hadn't been mistaken, she certainly was very brave to march up to the fifteen-year-old girl and speak in such terms.

"If it's up to me then definitely, but I probably won't have a say in these things. That'll be up to the captain." Taylor wrinkled her brow.

"But Ryan says you will be the captain." Now it was Leshia's turn to frown.

"According to who?"

"His mate Luka." Leshia's eyes went wide. The Luka Taylor spoke of was the boyfriend of Mila, Leshia's captain who would be finishing Hogwarts at the end of the year. Was this news Luka's guess as to the passing of the captain's band or had Mila told him something? After all, Tom or Luke would be a more logical choice seeing as both had been on the team longer.

"Leshia." The blonde girl snapped herself out of the daydream where she was leading her team to glory, the captain's band strapped tightly about her arm, to find her mother smiling at her. "Come on darling, Julia's going to show you the dress. Call me if you need any help."

Leshia nodded and followed a smiling Julia into the poky bedroom she shared with Ryan. On the bed lay an olive green dress, which seemed to be shimmering somehow. Julia lifted it up and handed it to Leshia. It felt weightless in her arms.

"Don't worry if it's too big. It should be enchanted to fit to your size once you've got it on."

"Thanks," Leshia replied breathily, her eyes falling on a pair of white heeled shoes in front of he mirror.

"Those too," Julia explained, noticing Leshia's gaze. "Just slip your foot in and they'll shrink around your foot. It's a really great spell. Madam Silvergrace is more than just an amazing designer."

Leshia waited patiently for Julia to slip out the room. She was desperate to try the dress on, but before she pulled her jeans and top off the girl wandered over to a series f picture frames that had caught her eye. She thought it might be rude to look at them with Julia in the room.

A happy laugh escaped Leshia's lips when she saw the pictures showing the antics of Ryan and his friends both during their Hogwarts days and ones that had evidently been taken since. One picture in particular caught her eye, which evidently showed Ryan and his friends in their first year. She couldn't get over the change in her idol; he had been a white-blond cherub with rosy pink cheeks and a mop of long hair. Toward the back stood a three-piece frame holding pictures of Becka, Taylor and… Leshia felt her eyes grow wide when she saw the third occupant of the frame. It was a picture of herself in first year, dressed in her Hogwarts uniform, holding the quidditch cup with a beaming face. Filled with pride Leshia forced her eyes away from the pictures; she had a dress to try on.

Her jeans and t-shirt she discarded on the floor before she lifted up the shimmering garment. The dress was so slippery in her hands it took her a while to find the bottom. She shivered in her underwear and her trainers. Finally she found the bottom and pulled the garment over her head. The girl peered at herself in the mirror and felt her heart plummet; the dress was like a sack on her bony body.

"Oh," the girl uttered in surprise. As thought the dress had read her thoughts, it started shrinking, pulling in at the seams and tightening in to fit Leshia's thin frame. The beautiful straps of twisted vines and flowers all made from the finest silk, yet fluttering in an imaginary breeze, grew tight on Leshia's shoulders and the sparkling fabric tightened in at the waist, yet remained quite loose at the chest. The gown draped beautiful over her body, staying floaty and loose at the bottom, making way for a little train to trail behind Leshia's legs. When the dress had stopped moving Leshia tore her eyes away from her appearance in the mirror to find the shoes. They were sweet white strapped heels with green flowers snaking round the straps. The moment Leshia's feet, which she extricated from her tatty trainers, touched the shoes they shrunk to fit beautifully round her slender toes. The straps wound up the girl's tanned leg (she and Katie had spent many an afternoon in the sun this week) and fastened without Leshia needing to touch them. She was dressed.

Uneasily, as the shoes were higher than anything Leshia had ever worn, the girl climbed to her feet and moved to stand before the mirror. The girl was mesmerised by her own appearance. She looked like a real woman, not the awkward fifteen-year-old she felt inside.

For too long Leshia had stopped and stared at herself and after a quiet knock at the door Hermione's face appeared.

"Is everything okay my…" Hermione stopped speaking and she rushed inside. Her own face arranged in shock. "Oh Leshia darling!"

The youngster turned a stupidly proud face on her mother when Hermione came to stand at her side, tears welling in her proud eyes and the pair embraced. No words needed to be said. It was a monumental moment. Hermione's little girl was nearly a woman and here before her was a glimpse of what that woman was going to look like. She was a beautiful creature.

XXX

A week passed. A week filled with small steps and big steps that saw Leshia and her mother returning to a happy relationship. Draco stayed away. He could see he wasn't needed and in truth, though he did want to help the Ministry, his true reason for staying away was his desire to leave Hermione and Leshia alone. He could see he change in them daily and knew his not being around was helping. With no distractions and no one else to turn to in the house Leshia was seeking out her mother more and more. Things were finally returning to normal in the Malfoy household.

The last Sunday of the holidays arrived. Leshia was due back at Hogwarts the next day and she and Hermione had been lazing around the Muggle room while Leshia finished a mammoth Ancient Runes essay, pausing every now and then to seek Hermione's advice on a passage she was about to write. Her mother aided her little, as there was no need. It would seem Leshia had truly got the hang of this Runes business and it swelled Hermione's heart with pride.

Little Evie had woken from her nap around four and had complained until Hermione went to fetch her and left her playing on the floor in the Muggle Room. Leshia was quite content to ignore the baby and didn't even mind every time Hermione addressed her little sister. As long as the teenager could ignore the baby, then she would be just fine.

The phone rang in the hall and Leshia ran to get it.

"Hello?" she asked breathily.

"Hello darling, is your mum there?"

"Mum!" the teenager bellowed. "It's Ginny!"

Hermione and Leshia passed in the lounge before the teenager dropped down on the floor once more, studying an awkward passage of her essay. She was finding it difficult to express exactly what she meant. She was going to have to test this one with Hermione when she got off the phone, but by the sounds of it, her mother was quite happily engaged in a nattering session with her best friend.

"Lih!"

Leshia lifted two bemused grey eyes to find her little sister sitting at the other end of the coffee table, her fingers in her mouth and her large wide eyes staring straight at Leshia. A tuft of thick brown curls were sticking on end on top of the baby's head and her cheeks were rosy from her afternoon sleep. Their eyes still locked together, Evie pulled her hand from her mouth and stuck her two hands on the floor. Shakily she placed her feet as far apart as they could go before she stuck her padded bottom high in the air. With the aid of the coffee table leg the rest of her soon followed. Leshia rolled her eyes and looked away from the baby, who had returned her wet hand to her mouth.

"Lih," Evie mumbled through her fingers.

"Oh bugger off," Leshia grumbled in return. "You're not that cute!"

Evie wasn't deterred by the hostility in Leshia's voice and she tottered forward, the coffee table serving as a handrail. The wet little hand had left the baby's mouth and was ready toward Leshia.

"I'm warning you, if you touch me with that hand I'll transfigure you into a hamster. I'm serious! I can do that you know."

Her bluff flew over the head of the ten-month-old, who persistently placed one fat little foot in front of the other, never taking her eyes off Leshia's face. With a growl the older girl grabbed a thick Runes book and darted away to Draco's armchair. There was no furniture to bridge the gap between baby and girl, so surely Evie wouldn't be able to reach her here? She hadn't started properly walking yet.

Evie reached the end of the coffee table and pondered the distance between herself and her desired object: her sister. Unperturbed the little one stuck one foot forward and let go of the table. For a moment she wobbled, but she held her balance. Another step followed. Leshia's eyes went wide. Her sister was walking!

"That's it," she whispered, her words springing out without a thought behind them. "My God, you're walking!" The girl jumped from the chair to the ground, dropping to her knees and holding out her arms. "Come on! That's right."

Evie held Leshia's gaze, determinedly making the little steps she needed to reach her target. The sisters were nearly upon one another when Hermione walked in.

"Evie!" she cried out, seemingly not noticing her older daughter with her arms spread, waiting to catch the baby when she reached her. "You're walking!"

Hermione ran forward, standing right in front of Leshia, in order to pick Evie off the ground. A dark feeling ran down Leshia's neck straight into her stomach. Tears filled her eyes. Her mother hadn't even noticed her. She'd only noticed the baby. She only ever noticed the baby.

Leshia got to her feet and ran from the room. By the time Hermione noticed she heard the door slam.

"Oh no," the mother into the top of Evie's head realising her mistake. "Oh no!"

Outside Leshia scaled the wall and was all set on careening down the street when she ran straight into someone who wasn't there a moment ago. The girl tumbled to the ground and was quickly helped up by the newly-apparated arrival.

"Watch yourself Leesh," Draco admonished, a thread of worry snaking through his mind. Why did Leshia seem to pale and shocked? "Where are you going in such a hurry?"

The girl seemed incapable of speech and so without another word Draco collared her and apparated with a snap to the dusty yard of the Cauldron. He sat Leshia down in a booth and ordered himself a firewhiskey and his daughter a butterbeer before joining her side again.

"Now then, what's happened?" he asked softly, though there was a commanding ring to his tone. Leshia stared deeply into her father's eyes and shook her head.

"I thought things were better dad," the girl uttered barely louder than a whisper. "But they're not! They're as bad as they've always been."

Draco's hopes and feelings were deflating rapidly, as though they were a balloon popped on a thorn. He could guess where this was going.

"What happened?" Leshia looked down with dark brooding eyes. "Leshia," Draco warned. "Tell me, what happened?"

"It's just mum that's all. Mum being mum and loving _her_ more than me."

Draco frowned, silently demanding more of an explanation, while fire burned in his stomach. Hermione, she'd ruined things! Just as they were getting better! How could she?

"Evie started walking just now," Leshia explained, ignoring the way her father's eyebrows rose at this news. He was suppressing his instant reaction of joy for Leshia's sake, though he wanted to burst into a smile; his baby, walking! "And I was, well, I was happy about it I guess. I was helping her and then mum ran in and stood right in front of me like I wasn't in the bloody room. She didn't even notice me. It's not fair dad! Why does she love Evie more than me? I've tried so hard this holiday, but it's all bloody pointless!"

Draco stared down at his drink. Anger was rippling under his skin. Everything had been going so well. Why now?

"I agree," he finally uttered darkly. "It was inconsiderate of your mother to ignore you when you've been trying so hard. I'm sorry she did that. Look, why don't you come back with me eh?"

"No," Leshia complained vehemently, after swallowing a big gulp of her butterbeer. Her drink was nearly empty. Draco's was too. "I don't want to be anywhere near them. I'm going to Rachel's."

"Leshia, please," Draco sighed. "Don't…"

"Don't what dad?" the girl growled fiercely. "I didn't do anything remember? I'm not the one who started walking! Maybe if I did then mum would notice I exist." Anger and fire were pouring from the girl's mouth and Draco didn't want to stop them, for he felt them too.

"Alright, fine," the tall man sighed and he leant back on the bench, his sad grey eyes watching Leshia's furious ones.

"I'll be back later," the girl stated while she climbed to her feet. "Don't wait up."

"Hey!" Draco exclaimed coldly, grabbing Leshia's wrist, stopping her from storming off to the fireplace. "You'll be back by ten, no later."

Leshia's teenaged rebellion fell short of Draco's serious expression and she nodded humbly.

"Fine, back by ten."

"Good. I'll see you later." With this the girl was gone, darting round punters until she reached the fireplace where she dropped the floo powder calling out Rachel's address before she was gone. Draco watched the green flames engulf the girl and then nothing. He climbed to his feet and stalked outside. It took him only a few moments to apparate to the doorstep and storm inside. Hermione was waiting, Evie in her arms.

"Draco! Evie took her first steps!" the mother cried out the moment her husband walked in. Draco gave his wife a cold look and instantly Hermione's smile dropped from her happy face.

"Yes I know."

"How?" she asked unnecessarily. She knew how and she now knew why her husband seemed so furious.

"I ran into Leshia outside. Or rather, she ran into me. You remember Leshia don't you? Our firstborn?"

"Draco," Hermione exclaimed coldly. "Don't be so cruel. I know she was hurt, but she didn't give me a chance. She ran away before I could speak to her."

"You blocked her out Hermione. She was trying with Evie, but you went and stood in her bloody way, your back to her. How was she supposed to feel?"

Hermione's brow creased in guilt; she had been kicking herself inwardly since Leshia stormed from the house.

"I know. I know what I did was wrong. I just didn't think. All I saw was Evie walking. Draco you should have seen her!"

"My God won't you listen to yourself!" Draco accused furiously. "Even now you just don't care! Everything was going so well…"

"That is so unfair," Hermione cried out, finally letting her angst fill her voice. "I do care! I've not stopped thinking about Leshia since she stormed out."

"You didn't come after her did you though?" Draco spat. Hermione's eyes went wide.

"Yes I did! But she was gone! I can't believe you Draco. Do you really think I don't love my daughter? After everything we've talked about?"

Draco looked with cold eyes and a cold heart into his wife's eyes. He had been so happy. The last fortnight had been so perfect. His judgement was clouded. In his moment of darkness he saw not his beloved wife. No, all he saw before him was a woman who had ruined everything he had held dear.

"I think you love Evie more and I think you are to blame for what is happening to this family."

He could not have spoken crueller words and Hermione turned from her husband, her eyes filling with tears.

"I think you should go Draco," the woman finally managed, a sob cracking through her voice.

"I agree."

No more was said. Draco swept up the stairs past his wife, filled his trunk with as many clothes as he could find and he was gone. Hermione collapsed on the stairs, tears flooding down her face. How had it all gone so wrong so quickly? Could she forgive Draco for his cruelty? Could she forgive herself for unwittingly setting her relationship with her oldest daughter back to the beginning? When would this misery end?

XXX

Leshia woke early the following morning. After a quick shower she was changed and nibbling on a piece of toast. No one was around. The girl frowned while she stared at her trunk in the hall. Someone must have moved it the night before and by the loving careful way everything had been folded inside Leshia could guess it was her mother. A snake of anger wriggled through Leshia's stomach. She couldn't think of her mother without pain gripping her heart. The girl was secretly hoping Hermione wouldn't see her off to the station, but as light footsteps descended the stairs the girl knew she wasn't going to have her wish. Hermione had expertly wiped away any sign of her night's crying from her face, but her eyes showed the heartbreak. Leshia though didn't look her in the eyes and saw not her mother's suffering. She didn't suspect a thing.

"Good morning," the mother offered hopefully, but she only received a nod in response. "Are you nearly ready to go?"

"Where's dad? Isn't he taking me?" Leshia asked coldly. She didn't see the tears form in Hermione's eyes. She had spent the whole night crying for her husband.

"No darling, not this time. He had to leave early this morning. Some sort of disaster with Peeves I think. He'll see you at the castle."

Leshia sensed a lie, but didn't care for its source. Instead she merely nodded and finished her toast. Hermione realised she was only bothering her daughter and making things worse and instead went to get Evie ready for the journey to the station.

Silence surrounded Leshia and her mother while they walked through London, Leshia's trunk dragging behind her on the small rattling wheels, Evie sleeping sounding on Hermione's shoulder. The station was heaving and once they reached the platform Leshia started to board the train without a second glance to Hermione.

"Leshia!" Hermione called. The girl stopped and barely looked around. "Have a good term my darling."

No response. The girl was gone. Tears welled in Hermione's eyes. She watched helplessly while all around her children hugged their mothers and mothers kissed their children. Her tears were falling. Her daughter was gone. Hermione's head hung and she lifted a shaking hand to hide her shameful grief.

Warm arms surrounded her and pulled her into an embrace. The smell of Ginny's perfume overwhelmed Hermione. Moments later the shaking woman lifted her free arm to cling to her best friend while Ginny hugged her firmly. Hermione could hear Harry herding the children onto the train, but at the last moment she lifted her eyes to meet Katie's concerned gaze. She promptly closed her eyes again.

"Harry," Ginny spoke gently. "Could you please take Evie?"

The baby was lifted from Hermione's arms and gently Ginny looped both arms through Hermione's.

"Take a deep breath," Ginny ordered softly. Hermione obeyed and felt herself spinning into oblivion. When she opened her eyes again she was in Ginny's kitchen. "Sit down my dear." Ginny directed Hermione to a barstool before she made her way to the kettle. While she walked Harry appeared in the room with Evie still asleep in his arms. He gently placed the baby on the soft padded window seat and went to sit beside Hermione, cupping her hand in his. She smiled shakily, before tears streamed from her eyes once more.

While Ginny placed four cups of tea on the table her foresight paid off; Ron appeared in the kitchen, stumbling slightly in dizziness. He took the fourth seat at the bar and nursed the cup of tea, his sad eyes glancing from Hermione's trembling form to Harry and Ginny's helpless gazes. None of them knew what had happened and Hermione was in no state to tell them. They could wait.

XXX

Leshia prized her eyes open t find Rachel jumping into view in the bright morning light. Quite unceremoniously she gave her friend a big kick sending the redhead flying off the four-poster bed. Despite her just having woken up, Leshia grinned at the furious profanities that Rachel unleashed after her tumble.

"Serves you bloody right," Leshia grumbled, pulling herself out of bed in order to get into the shower queue. Rachel and Katie followed quickly and the three girls waited in a sleepy silence for their turn to wash. While they waited Parys and Rodeo flew past them, uncharacteristically early to be awake, showered and dressed.

"What's up with you two!" Rachel accused, reaching out a foot to trip Parys as he ran past. The boy stumbled and quickly doubled back to deliver an attack on the pyjama clad girl.

"Rumour has it the sixth years played a joke on the lower years," Rodeo explained, his smile smug, yet also slightly sympathetic. "Dipped all their hands in warm water last night. The whole stairwell smells like wee!"

"No!" the girls all exclaimed in shock.

"It's true," Parys agreed with a grim expression. "We thought we'd get in here before they all descend on the showers. It's pretty bad up there. I'd stay away from that lot today. The common room's going to be a bloodbath later on."

Arguing male voices carried down the stairs.

"Come on Rodes, let's go," Parys urged his friend and quickly the boys ran from the room leaving the girls staring in wonder at the furious argument between several red-faced younger boys and the sixth year pack. Tom and Luke seemed to be in the centre of the mess.

"I hope they learn their lesson," Katie uttered softly.

"Yeah, it's just not funny this time," Rachel agreed leaving Leshia to nod. A part of her found it hilarious scaring the other part of her into wondering what was wrong with her? Why did she always have to be different?

Within twenty minutes the girls had arranged themselves at Gryffindor table and were doling out breakfast stuffs to one another. After nearly four years of eating together nearly every morning they knew what to serve one another and what to leave alone and soon their plates were full. Leshia dug in hungrily, her eyes lifting to the top table as they usually did. Surprise stopped her mid-mouthful and she stared, open mouthed at her father. What was he doing there so early? Didn't he normally have breakfast at home? And why did he seem so pale and dishevelled?

"Earth to Leesh!" Rachel waved her fingers in front of Leshia's face. The blonde girl blinked rapidly at her friend. "Ah! There you are! I thought someone had used the thinking curse on you without us noticing."

"Very funny," Leshia grumbled. "Look. It's my dad. What's he doing here?" Rachel turned her curious blue eyes at the top table and then shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe your mum's having a lie in and wasn't up to cook him breakfast?" she suggested. Leshia rolled her eyes fondly, letting herself be pulled away from her sad thoughts.

"I'm sure he's capable of fixing himself eggs on toast. He always used to manage."

"I wonder where Tripper is," Katie interrupted the other two. Leshia and Rachel's eyes flew to the empty seat at the top table and frowned in unison. There was no slick-haired monster where there ought to be one. Professors Sprout and Flitwick were leaning across the gap happily informing one another about their holidays.

"Maybe he's sick," Rachel suggested.

"Madam Pomfry would be able to heal a cold Rach," Leshia countered.

"Well maybe it's something worse. Maybe he's come down with something like dragon fever. That can kill you you know."

"Yeah," the blonde girl laughed. "But you also have to be in contact with dragons and somehow I don't see Tripper spending his holidays down at the dragon sanctuary."

"Okay then, well maybe he's not sick. Maybe he died."

"Rachel!" Katie admonished sternly. "That's a really wicked thing to say."

"I didn't say I _hope_ he had died! I just said maybe he did. Oh come on, it's not like the world would mourn him is it? He's a nasty great big ugly bully!"

Leshia nodded at her friend's side, but whereas Rachel wasn't hoping for the demise of the filthy Runes professor, she certainly was. A more rational portion of her mind was pondering whether there had been some repercussions to the statement she had made in her trial, but surely the newspapers would have got wind of such a story? Leshia forced herself not to get her hopes up and instead let her eyes drift over the headlines of Katie's Prophet.

_Infamous Death Eater spotted nine times in a week. When will the Ministry act?_

As though everything else had ceased to exist Leshia grabbed the paper and started reading hungrily. Her grandfather was back. She had forced herself not to think of him since Christmas, which had been greatly aided by the fact that his name had stopped appearing in the headlines. Something had changed though because here he was, seen nine times in the capital, desperately searching for something if the witness accounts were to be believed. One hapless Muggle had managed to catch the notorious dark wizard in one of their holiday snaps taken down Tottenham Court Road.

The picture was motionless and printed in fading ink. There stood a happy Muggle family, smiling brightly into the camera while behind them, stalking into the shot was Leshia's grandfather. He had grown older still than the last time Leshia had seen his face in a paper. The long hair he had once delicately maintained straggled from the top of his balding head and his eyes seemed sunken into his skeletal skull. There was little meat left on the old man, as though he hadn't eaten a solid meal in many months. He looked terrifying.

Leshia looked into the old man's eyes and felt a cool terror slip down her spine. She realised she was afraid of him. What had he been searching for? And how had he dared come out in the open so many times? Whatever he was looking for must be incredibly important. The girl looked at the surroundings in the picture. She knew that street well, as she walked down it whenever she wanted to visit Diagon Alley. Lucius Malfoy had been photographed painfully close to her home during a week when she had been on holiday. How many times had she walked past that shop during the past fortnight? Could he have been there, hiding in the crowds?

"I hope you weren't looking for me," the girl whispered.

"Hmmwhahh?" Rachel sprayed Leshia with crumbs eliciting a goofy laugh from the blonde girl.

"Ugh," the girl cried happily. "Swallow before you speak Rach. Yuck!"

In front of the dining pupils Albus Dumbledore rose to his feet. His expression seemed grave and Leshia wondered if this had something to do with the sightings of her grandfather.

'Don't be ridiculous,' she admonished herself. 'Why would Dumbledore be afraid? Lucius isn't after him.'

Leshia let her grey eyes slide to her father, who was still looking down at his plate. Though the sightings of her grandfather couldn't explain why Dumbledore seemed out of sorts, maybe it explained a little of Draco's sore face, the girl wondered. Though the thought did make Leshia fear the article even more. If her father was worried then she ought to be terrified.

"Good morning dear pupils," the headmaster spoke, drawing the gazes of all Hogwarts pupils and staff, save one, who still stared at his plate. "Once more, I welcome you back to our fine castle. You need not fear, I will not bore you with another speech. I am sure last night's welcome will suffice. No, I merely wanted to address you about something quite grave and serious before the news filters into the papers and gossip grips your imaginations twisting it out of all proportion."

Leshia, Rachel and Katie exchanged curious glances. Grave and serious news? For a moment the blonde girl's eyes dipped to her grandfather's dead eyes. Could he be the news that had put Dumbledore so out of sorts?

"When I tell you what I have to say, I implore you not to let your initial reactions cloud what ought to be a grave announcement. I know many of you will not appreciate the true gravity of the situation and I wish you to know I understand, but please, try your very best to show the appropriate respect."

Katie's eyes were going wide and she stared at the back of Rachel's head. Had her cousin been right in her jesting? Had a certain disliked member of staff kicked the bucket during the holidays?

"My news relates to Professor Tripper." Whispers darted round the tables while Rachel turned around with wide eyes meeting Katie's. For a moment the headmaster waited for silence to return to the Great Hall and for all eyes to seek out his once more.

"During the holidays our Ancient Runes professor went missing," Albus Dumbledore spoke clearly. His aura prevented the pupils from bursting out into whispers once more. "The Minister of Magic informed me himself yesterday and by the end of today every newspaper and rag across the whole nation will be twisting the story round and putting forward ridiculous rumours to enter into circulation round the wizarding world. It is unnecessary for me to add that the circumstances behind his disappearance are suspicious and that there is a great deal of concern over the state of his health. There were signs of struggle."

Shocked faces stared up at the headmaster with wide eyes. Dumbledore's eyes trailed over the pupils until his eyes met Leshia's. She was one of the few who had remained neutral. The wise old man held the tempestuous young girl's gaze for a moment before he looked back to the student body.

"I am telling you all this because I think you have a right to know," he carried on seriously. "It will be your responsibility to keep a level head. If I hear of celebrations or gimmickry about this news in this very saddest of times you will gravely offend me. I expect the very highest moral calibre of the pupils of this school."

Silence reverberated round the great hall while pupils grappled with their thoughts. Nearly every single Ancient Runes pupil fought their natural instincts to smile. Tripper gone? It was a dream come true for most, but Dumbledore's severity made them falter. No, this was not a time for celebrations. The youngsters would not tell a soul of their private relief.

"Now then, those of you who take Ancient Runes need not fear. I have already started looking for a suitable replacement to teach you the remainder of your courses. In the meantime I suggest you use your newly found free time to study in the library. I am sure your replacement teacher will expect to move you on quite speedily in your learning and I would hate for you to fall behind."

With this the wise old man sat down as though he had not just delivered a serious announcement. The student body gradually filled the hall with conversation once more, though it was with a subdued air that the pupils made their way to their first lessons of the day.

"I can't believe he's been kidnapped," Rachel finally spoke, drawing Katie's amused gaze.

"I don't think you can call it kidnapping if he's in his thirties Rach."

"Well whatever it's called, who would want him? He's foul…"

"Remember what Dumbledore said," Katie warned, though her heart wasn't in it.

"Hey I'm not celebrating," Rachel complained with a smile. "I'm just saying what everyone's thinking. Leesh you agree with me right? Leesh. Leshia!"

The blonde girl looked up in surprise, torn from her thoughts. She raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"Yes?"

"Nah never mind, you're off with the faeries you are. Come on, let's go. I need the loo and I am not being late for Defence Against the Dark Arts when your dad looks like _that_!"

Leshia glanced up at the murderous expression on her father's face and she nodded, secretly agreeing with her friend. The trio of girls headed up the table, drawing Parys and Rodeo along with them as they went. En route to the classroom Rachel ran off to the toilets leaving the others to mill around in the corridor.

"I can see Allseyer's not changed a bit," Leshia remarked casually, her gaze drifting up the corridor to the swagger of her Slytherin nemesis in the distance. "He's still sauntering round like he owns the place."

"Can see you've not changed either Leesh," Parys countered with a cheeky smile. Leshia snapped her eyes onto the tall boy with an expectant expression.

"And by that you mean what exactly?"

"Ah mate don't," Rodeo groaned amusedly, elbowing Parys' side. "Let's keep it friendly shall we?"

"Well I mean you're on his case as much as he's on yours." Parys ignored Rodeo's sensible advice and with his hands thrown to the air Rodeo grabbed Katie and dragged her giggling up the corridor to leave the other two to bicker it out.

"That one will never learn," Rodeo chuckled. "I'm not sure how he managed all those months away without Leshia to wind up."

"Oh he managed, by picking on all the girls in his host house," Katie explained happily. "By the end of our stay most of them were in love with him, but there were those who hated the sight of him. He's a funny one Parys, he's growing more cocky every day."

"Damn right," Rodeo laughed. "He's got a funny way of showing his feelings."

Katie frowned slightly.

"What do you mean? His feelings?" the girl asked worriedly. Rodeo frowned.

"Isn't it obvious? God Parys has been in love with Leshia since he bloody met the girl."

The smile on the bespectacled girl's face fell leaving an aghast expression in its wake. Rodeo frowned in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's just…" Katie trailed off and shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't know that I suppose."

Rodeo cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his head.

"I hope I didn't upset you or anything. I mean, you don't fancy him do you?" Katie let out an amazed utterance and quickly shook her head.

"Me? No not me."

Relief spread over Rodeo's face, which didn't go unmissed by Katie's keen gaze. The boy's frown was back while he tried to work out why his words had so jarred Katie.

"Well if you don't fancy him, then who…" The boy trailed off, before he snapped his eyes up at Katie's green eyes, creased in concern that she had just revealed too much. "Rachel! Rachel fancies Parys!"

Katie winced.

"Yes! But please don't say anything, she'll kill me." Rodeo chuckled.

"Your secret's safe with me Katie, but you have nothing to fear you know," the boy explained cheerily.

"What do you mean?"

"Well have you noticed that Parys is a bit of a git, well in a fond way you know, to Leshia _and_ Rachel. He likes nothing more than to pick on them till they finally lunge at him and he gets his way." Katie's eyes were wide.

"He fancies both of them?" she asked in amazement. Rodeo laughed and nodded, wrapping his arm about Katie's shoulders and giving her a fond shake.

"No need to look so surprised. I thought it was bloody obvious, he's no like that with anyone else."

"Well so which one does he like more?" the raven-haired girl inquired urgently. Rodeo shrugged his shoulders and rubbed the back of his head.

"I don't think even he knows. Why are you so bothered anyway?" Katie rolled her eyes.

"Because Rachel's one of my best friends and I didn't want her to have the same problem we all had," the girl explained loosely. Rodeo frowned.

"Huh?"

"Oh you know, the whole you, me and Leesh thing." Rode raised his eyebrows and looked suddenly embarrassed. He had behaved despicably towards Katie last year and still cringed when he remembered the look on Katie's face when he left her weeping in the corridor.

"You know," the boy spoke, trying to force the memories away. "You've changed." Katie suppressed a grin and shook her head.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you're a lot more…I don't know, chilled out I guess. In a good way!" Katie burst out laughing happily and shoved the boy's arm.

"You know what Rodes, I _feel_ a lot more chilled out," the girl sighed contentedly, while she watched Rachel emerge from the toilets and throw herself into the play fight Leshia and Parys were currently involved in. "Come on, we'd better go and get them or they'll be at it all day."

Katie led the way, missing the way Rodeo stared at the back of her head in confusion. He hadn't worded himself very well, but he was certain that Katie was different. She seemed so much more self-assured, so much happier in her own skin. She intimidated him a little. Where before he had always held the upper hand she seemed suddenly quite independent of his attentions directed toward he. It was almost as though she didn't care. Rodeo sighed heavily, trying to uncluttered his thoughts while Katie pulled their sparring friends out of the fray they had found themselves in. The tall confident girl led the way while the others trailed behind her laughing happily about who had won their fight.

Most of the Gryffindors and Slytherins were waiting outside the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, regaling one another with loud stories about their holidays. Katie brought her friends to a halt at the end of the line behind an extremely brown Nicola, who was telling Ashley all about her trip to the Cote d'Azure in France. Upon spotting the bespectacled girl Nicola promptly turned her gaze on her.

"Did you go away Katie? You're looking even browner than you did when you got back from the exchange trip!" Nicola asked enviously. Katie grinned and shook her head.

"No, me and Leesh spent the holidays lying in the sun in our back gardens."

"We also did other stuff," Leshia quickly interrupted, her worried eyes seeking out those whom she'd wish not to think her spending her entire holiday sunbathing. Katie rolled her eyes at the blonde girl and turned to face Nicola once more leaving Leshia hanging her head in front of an amused Rachel.

"If you didn't want people to judge you for being so vein then why'd you ditch me in the shade for most of the holidays?" the freckled girl asked fondly. Leshia shrugged before she looked up to glance along the line of awaiting pupils. Her eyes soon found Damian Allseyer dominating the attention of the fourth year Slytherins. Just how he commanded so much reverence from the snakes the blonde girl would never understand, in hr eyes the cretin was a mousey looking boy who had told far too many lies and had earned a very devious looking face as a result of it. He was a coward through and through. She just didn't understand.

Leaning against the wall nearest the door, his eyes trained on the wall opposite stood someone Leshia was not in doubt of: Julius Black. He would be a far greater leader to rule the snake house the girl thought privately. His very aura spoke of darkness and power. He frightened her, as she never knew what he was thinking. His intentions were veiled. What did he want?

As though he sensed her gaze Julius Black lifted his pale eyes to meet Leshia's across the corridor and for a moment the teenagers stared at one another. Unspoken words passed between them, but what Julius might have been saying Leshia didn't know. She was only aware of her own stream of thoughts pouring out to the boy.

'I don't trust you,' she told him in her mind. 'I just know you're up to no good. I don't trust you one bit.'

A snake of a smile wormed onto Julius Black's face before he looked away up the corridor. The sound of heavy footsteps was approaching prompting a surge of fourth years to jump against the corridor wall and check the state of their shirts. Draco's face slowly came into view and for those who had not heeded him at the head table, his sour expression caught them off guard. Evidently they were in for a painful hour's lesson.

Without his cursory glance up the ranks the teacher shoved into the door and barked for the pupils to follow him in. Several scared eyes sought out Leshia, but she gave them a shrugging gesture to convey she was none the wiser than they were. The girl kept her eyes down as she took her seat where finally she dared to look up. Draco was watching her, his expression more turbulent than it was moments ago. Quickly the girl looked down.

'What did I do?' she thought to herself grimly.

"Good morning," the teacher finally spoke when all the shuffling and fidgeting had subsided. The fourth years stared at him wide eyed. "We are starting a new family of counter curses this term. Today you will be in the library carrying out research in silence."

The teacher turned his back on the class and started writing on the blackboard. While he wasn't looking the fourth years took a moment to exchange grimaces. Draco turned around and caught only one pair of youngsters leaning across the gap between their desks.

"Miss Weasley, Miss Malfoy, _stop_." Leshia and Rachel slowly leaned back into their seats, their expressions surprised at the hostility in Draco's voice. Angrily their teacher turned from them and underlined the words on the board.

"Ocular Hexes," he read aloud. "Who can guess what these hexes target?" A few hands bravely crept into the air. Without turning round Draco called aloud the one pupil who would undoubtedly seek to give an answer. "Miss Potter?"

"They affect your eyes sir," a meek response came.

"Good. All of you, on our feet." Instantly the pupils responded. Slowly the teacher turned around. "We are going to the library. If one of you so much as breathes a whisper you will be spending the evening sorting through my archives and putting them into alphabetical order. Is that understood?"

The class nodded fearfully and quickly followed their teacher out of the room. The whole class, even the cantankerous Slytherins, managed to walk in silence toward the library. They were nearly there when quite suddenly Draco stopped and turned very slowly on his heel. The pupils nearest him stumbled over one another to step backwards.

"Miss Malfoy," came the very sinister command. Toward the back of the row the blonde girl stepped out of line, her head hanging slightly. How on Earth had he heard her? She'd only whispered one word to Rachel. Surely her father couldn't have heard that? "Return to the classroom immediately."

"But sir…" the girl tried.

"Go, now!"

Flinging her arms up in frustration Leshia stormed back the way they had come, cursing her father under her breath. Why was he taking out his anger on her? What had happened that had put him in the worst mood she had witnessed in a great number of years?

Once inside the classroom Leshia stalked up and down the tables trying to calm her temper, but she was too annoyed. She ambled over to her father's desk to see if she could find a clue to his bad mood, but found nothing save the disarray of pupils' essays and lesson plans. The girl's eyes drifted toward the open door to her father's study. Her eyes slid from side to side, no one was around.

The girl took the steps two at a time, feeling guilty before she'd even reached the messy study. She knew if her father caught her she would find herself in a world of trouble, but her curiosity was too keen. She _had_ to know what had happened.

The study was gloomy, but Leshia knew where to find the light switch. Her father's study was more messy than she'd ever seen it, clothes lay scattered among books, littering the floor making in near impassable. The coffee table lay littered with several empty glasses and a downed bottle of whiskey. With a worried niggle at the back of her throat Leshia stepped into the study toward the desk, which heaved under a mountain of books and papers. Did her answers lie there?

Leshia stopped. She never reached the desk. Slowly the girl turned her head to look into the door that she had not seen open since her first year. Beyond the door lay a small bedroom with an unmade bed that had evidently been slept in and an open trunk at the bottom of it. That explained all the clothes.

"Oh no," the girl exhaled, her eyes tearing up. She knew why her father was in so foul a mood. Feeling numb the girl backtracked out of the study. She needed air, she needed to think! Before Leshia knew where she was going her feet had taken her far from the castle and into the grounds. She cared not that she would catch an enormous punishment for wandering off, all she cared about was what she had witnessed. Her father was living at the castle again.

But what did that mean?

Tears were streaming down Leshia's cheeks. She knew what that meant. It meant things were not as they had seemed during the holidays. Hermione and Draco's happiness had relied on Leshia's to get them through. They weren't happy together anymore.

"No," the girl wailed letting her face drop in her hands, panic gripping her chest. Her parents had separated. That could be the only explanation. "It's all your fault!" A scream filled the grounds, Leshia couldn't contain her anguish anymore. The face of her evil little sister flooded the teenager's mind and she burned with rage at the child. "This is all _your _fault!" she repeated shakily. "I hate you. I hate you. I hate you!"

It started to rain.

**XXXXX**

**End of Part XI**

*Edit* - Just to respond to some reviews this chapter has received: Please look back at Leshia's past. her mother went missing when she was six years old and then reappeared barely three years ago. Leshia had her mother back in her life and was relishing in family life for barely a year and a half when Hermione revealed she was pregnant. There are not normal elder sibling emotions at work here. When you analyse Leshia's personality it becomes clear why she would react in such a way. Leshia is one of the most stubborn characters I have ever written who spent most of her life missing her mother. Now her mother is back, it shouldn't come as a surprise that she reacts badly to a new sibling her mother dotes on (and in Leshia's eyes loves more than herself). Don't dismiss her yet :)

*EDIT* Apologies for typos. Wrote this chapter in a hurry. Will try to go back and correct them. Actually travelling this summer, so don't have much time on the net. Have changed the Amy-Julia names. Somehow I'm always convinced Julia is called Amy.


	12. Part Twelve

**Generations: Rebel Inside**

**Part XII**

Hermione stirred her tea slowly. She seemed a pitiful thing Ron thought, as he sat opposite his old friend at his kitchen table. It had been a week since Draco had moved out and in that time he, Harry and Ginny had tried to spend as much time with the grieving woman as possible. Hermione simply didn't know what to do with herself, that much was clear. When Ron had flooed round he had found her sat in front of the fireplace staring coldly at the wall, a piece of cold toast in her hand. This may have been well and good, but Ron knew Hermione to be holding onto the remains of her breakfast and he had come round at seven in the evening. He couldn't quite believe that she had sat there all day and instead he collected a peaceful Evie from upstairs and packed a few belongings for the baby's mother before bringing them both round to his Winchester home. The children were all tucked up in bed leaving the adults time to talk.

"Things aren't going well are they 'Mione?" the flame-haired man asked quietly, once he'd watched his friend stir her tea for the hundredth time or so. Hermione nodded meekly, but did not raise her eyes from the churning steaming liquid. "Have you spoken to Draco since…"

"No," a croak escaped the woman, before finally she lifted blood-shot eyes to meet Ron's. "Not a word. It's as though he's dropped off the face of the world."

"He's only in Hogwarts," Ron countered. "You could go and see him."

"Go and see _him_?" Hermione demanded, her defensiveness making her tone cruel. Ron raised his eyebrows and stared his old friend down for a moment.

"You know," he mused finally. "You're a little stubborn sometimes. Do you know that?"

For a moment Hermione stared in petulance into Ron's familiar eyes before at last she snorted with laughter and nodded.

"So I've been told."

"Look 'Mione," Ron sighed, feeling relieved a semblance of his old friend remained in the shell that she had recently vacated. "When Lavender and I were, you know, going through what you guys are going through, well, I used to apologise all the time."

Hermione frowned deeply. She, Ginny and Harry had never pushed Ron for gossip over his drawn-out break up with Lavender, the mother of his children. They had felt it wasn't their place and that Ron would speak of his troubles when he felt the time was right. Had that time come?

"It wasn't always my fault," Ron was quickly carrying on, his blue eyes meeting Hermione's with an earnest expression. He didn't want her thinking he had been to blame for his marital breakdown. "In fact quite a lot of the time Lavender seemed to get cross at me for things I just couldn't help. That was the problem see? I was never the man she wanted me to be and in the end she couldn't handle it anymore. Me and the kids, we weren't enough for her. I didn't really see that at the time and I tried to hang on to her longer than I should of. Look," Ron stated suddenly and he sat up straight as though realising the tangent he had taken himself down. "That's not the point anyway, the point is that sometimes I apologised even when I'd done nothing wrong, just to make things right for a little while longer."

Hermione stared with narrowed eyes at her friend, tears welling under her heavy lids. She understood his meaning, but didn't feel herself capable of submitting to his suggestion. How could she apologise when it had been Draco who had taken himself out of the family home? How could she apologise to the man that had abandoned her?

"I can see you don't want to believe me," Ron chuckled fondly and he shook his head. "The thing is Hermione that your husband is more stubborn than you are and if you want this to get sorted out sooner rather than later then I'm afraid you're going to have to take the high road. If you don't…"

Ron trailed off and he took a long sip from his piping hot tea. The tearful woman before him looked up sharply and raised her eyebrows.

"If I don't then what Ron?" she asked quietly making the red-haired man squirm slightly under her gaze.

"If you don't then you lose them Hermione: Draco and Leshia too."

XXX

May swept through the grounds bringing with it lazy afternoons in the sun and a swathe of fresh blossoms. Though exam tensions were mounting, everyone seemed in good spirits. The Hogsmeade visit fell on the third weekend back at school. Rachel and Katie signed their blonde friend up for the trip and dragged her from their stuffy common room to line up with everyone else come Saturday morning. They hadn't pushed Leshia over her sullenness, though she had been determinedly out of sorts for nearly two weeks. They could guess it was due to a private upheaval in the Malfoy family's life, as Draco had been a tyrant their last few lessons and their parents had written them independently, urging them to support Leshia.

"I hope Tripper stays missing forever," Rachel happily though aloud while the three girls ambled down the long lane towards the village. Katie turned to stare at the girl aghast.

"Rachel! Don't say things like that!" the bespectacled girl admonished.

"Well why not? Everything's been so much better since he stormed about the place threatening to stick us in detention till we're fifty. Haven't they Leesh?"

"Hmm?"

"I was just saying I hope Tripper never comes back," Rachel repeated louder this time, her brow knitted together in worry. The shorter girl shrugged her shoulders.

"I won't argue you on that one," she conceded. "Although that supply professor, Cabbage…"

"Crabbe Leshia," Katie interrupted with a withering sigh. Leshia promptly ignored her.

"Well she's not much better is she?"

"Leesh," Rachel chuckled happily. "I know she's not the most friendly, interesting, or hygienic of teachers, but she's not exactly a homicidal maniac either."

"Well that's all just a matter of opinion of you ask me," the blonde girl countered. "Personally I wouldn't be at all surprised if we found out she'd murdered half a dozen muggles and had them stuffed under that smock she wears." Rachel burst out laughing happily while beside them Katie rolled her eyes in a withering expression. "What do you think Dumbledore would say to me dropping Runes at the end of this year?"

Leshia seemed deadly serious.

"I think he'd say 'no chance mate' and then laugh in your face," Rachel replied. "We're doing OWLs next year Leesh, they're not going to let you drop a subject."

"Well I'd do another one of course!"

"Which one?" Katie asked. For a moment Leshia frowned as she considered her options. From what Rodeo and Parys had said about Care of Magical Creatures it sounded both boring and terrifying at the same time, though how this was possible Leshia couldn't quite understand. Arithmancy was a class populated by those Leshia and Rachel insensitively referred to as swots. Besides, the girl conceded, she probably didn't have the intelligence to make it within their ranks and had no desire to be made to feel stupid by people she held in little regard. Then finally there was Naturamancy, which Leshia knew very little about. None of her friends had taken up the subject and all Leshia knew was that occasionally Professor Voletta would lead a soaking wet trail of pupils through the entrance hall after what looked like a very dull field trip if the expressions on the youngsters' faces was anything to go by.

"Um," the blonde girl uttered thoughtfully. "Dossing around?"

"Ha!" Katie hooted triumphantly. "I thought so. You're stuck where you are Leshia, you may as well resign yourself to that fact."

Hogsmeade was coming into focus in the distance. It seemed a lot busier than normal. In fact, there seemed to be some commotion going on. The trio of friends sped up in order to find out what was going on and soon the sound of uproar met their ears.

"I wonder what's happened," Rachel mused with a frown, but after glancing to Leshia and Katie she found no answers in their faces.

"Hey, is that Rodeo?" Katie suddenly exclaimed squinting through her spectacles to see that yes it was the bohemian boy, sprinting towards the girl from the direction of the village as quickly as he could. In his wake Parys was hot on his tail. All three girls started to feel afraid and huddled together slightly while their friends ran towards them.

"Run Leshia!" Rodeo shouted hoarsely when he came within hearing range. A wounded look materialised on Katie's face. Why didn't he care for her safety in equal measure? "Run! Go into the forest _now_!"

Without sparing a second thought Rachel dragged a stunned Leshia off the road and towards the tree line. Katie tumbled after them as they darted through the sparse bushes at the roadside. They knew not what was going on, but never before had they seen such terror of their friend's face.

"I wonder what's happened," Katie panted through gasping breaths. Rachel and Leshia held no answers to such a question and instead ploughed on through the undergrowth. The trees became much denser within no time and after only a few minutes of running the girls had to slow down in order to pick their way through the trees. Behind them the sound of crashing and running could be heard. Instinctively the girls pulled out their wands and turned around facing the direction of the noise.

The bushes started to move, cleared by frantically waving arms before quite suddenly a face appeared that none of them had been expecting.

"You!" Leshia accused angrily, feeling disgusted by the concerned look upon Julius Black's face. "What do you want?"

"Shut up Malfoy and follow me if you want to get out of this alive," the boy commanded and he stormed past the girls into the thick trees. Leshia exchanged a wide-eyed look with Rachel and Katie before she pelted after Julius Black.

"What's going on?" she demanded. "Why am I in danger?"

The boy ahead ploughed on, ignoring Leshia's demands, which grew increasingly aggressive and demanding until finally she caught up with the boy and grabbed his arm. He spun around, his expression tumultuous. Leshia stumbled back slightly.

"Damn it Malfoy! Listen to me, everyone's after you. If you don't get away then you're done for, do you understand?"

"Why? Why is everyone after me? What have I done now?" Leshia demanded desperately. Julius Black's eyes creased in emotion before he looked to the sky as though seeking guidance. Katie and Rachel meanwhile caught up with them and huddled around their ringleader offering her strength.

"It's your grandfather," Julius finally explained, dropping his peculiar eyes onto Leshia's wide grey ones. "He's back."

"Yeah, we already knew that," Leshia interrupted plainly.

"No! You don't understand. He's back and he has a following. They stormed the Magic House in Manchester this morning. Dozens of people are dead and they've taken loads more hostage. They're resurrecting Him Malfoy: Voldemort. They say they've nearly done it. They only need one more thing…"

Leshia backed away, her face twisted in a private horror the others couldn't imagine.

"Why do they want me?" she asked hoarsely. Julius Black dropped his head and rubbed his neck furiously.

"Because Lucius outed you as an accomplice. Your father too."

Leshia's knees buckled and she dropped onto the damp moss of the forest floor. Katie and Rachel struggled to lift her to her feet, but she remained where she was. This was the excuse the Minister had been waiting for. Dumbledore's words were ringing in her ears. He had told her that unless public support in Draco Malfoy dropped then he could do nothing about his paranoid suspicions, but now…

"Where's my dad?" Julius sighed and hung his head.

"He's in their custody."

Instantly Leshia was on her feet and had Rachel not had the foresight to hang onto the blonde girl then she would have been off, storming through the forest once more, only this time in the direction of the castle.

"Let go of me," Leshia growled angrily.

"No Leesh!" her friend complained and she held on tighter. "Your dad wouldn't want you to give yourself up."

"Listen to her Malfoy," Julius warned. "She's right. Do you know what they'll do to you when they get their hands on you?"

"But they've got my dad!"

"Yes they do and his fate is now incredibly uncertain," Julius countered firmly. "But you're still free for now and you know for a fact that your father would not have you leap headfirst into their hands."

"But they'll kill him!" Leshia cried out furiously. "They'll send him to Azkaban and they'll have him hanged."

"Leesh you don't know that," Katie quickly cut in and she wrapped her arm around Leshia's heaving shoulders to offer her some comfort. "Maybe without Tripper whispering in his ear Minister Crayik will see sense."

Leshia turned her despairing gaze on the bespectacled girl and for a moment Katie felt tears welling in her eyes. Leshia didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve to be hunted down by the ministry. Anger stirred deep in the pit of the tall girl's stomach and she squeezed Leshia's shoulders harder.

"Come on, we have to get away from here," Julius Black insisted and he reached out a slender hand to take hold of Leshia's wrist. His cool fingers closed around her skin and for a moment the blonde girl stared at his pale fingers with a dipped brow. As though a moment of understanding something far greater than she ought had passed through her Leshia looked up to meet the enigma's eyes and she nodded.

"Yes," she managed and she and the boy started running with Rachel and Katie in their wake.

"Your friends on the road won't be able to fool the aurors. They'll soon find out which way we have gone."

"What do you mean aurors?" Katie demanded, listening intently to Black's words, even though she trailed behind. "Are Rodeo and Parys okay?"

"They won't be harmed, but you can be sure they will be questioned," Julius Black replied. "They did just run down the road shouting out Malfoy's name."

The children ran for a very long time while all around them flashes of light and loud pops signified more and more aurors apparating to the area. Their positions had been compromised, though not by Rodeo and Parys, who remained steadfast during their interrogations on the road. It had been a lowly Slytherin witness to the whole scene who had gladly come forward and let the auror squad know what they had seen. Yes, Damian Allseyer had very happily told the team that he had seen Leshia Malfoy dart into the woods.

Julius's fingers were still wrapped around Leshia's wrist and with every new flash and every new pop his grip grew tighter, until eventually the skin under his strong hand started to grow sore. A flash of light ahead saw Leshia nearly screaming in pain at the strength with which Julius grabbed her bony wrist.

"Agh," she gasped, as she and the boy came to an abrupt halt. Julius Black dragged the girl to the ground, with Rachel and Katie falling down onto the moss behind them. Up ahead a tall figure had emerged in the forest. The youngsters held their breath and looked to one another with wide eyes.

Another flash of right lit up the sky, while a loud pop to their left signified yet more aurors had pinpointed their position. Rachel stared around with wide eyes, before she crawled forward on her elbows, finally reaching Leshia's side after several minutes of silent exertion. She fumbled deep in her bag for a moment, before she lifted something out and thrust it into Leshia's clammy hand. The blonde girl met her best friend's eyes for a moment with a frown while she felt the object to determine what it was.

"I just know you're going to need it," she whispered. There were tears in both their eyes and for a moment they rested their foreheads together while all around them a loud voice cracked through the heavens.

"Alecia Malfoy," the voice boomed. "There is no point in trying to run. We will track you down. We _will _find you. Give yourself up now."

At Leshia's other side Katie suddenly emerged, tears running down her cheeks. She wrapped her arm around Leshia's trembling form and nestled her face into the blonde girl's curls. The four children lay in silence, shaking in the sudden chill that had enveloped the forest while all around them aurors closed in on their location. It seemed an age that they lay there, but suddenly where there had been such heart-breaking silence there emerged an enormous kafuffle.

"She's here!" a female voice screamed out from behind the children, prompting them to leap to their feet and wheel round to face a short stern-faced auror with an eye-patch covering half her face.

"_Expeliarmus_!" Katie shouted out shrilly and to her horror found the auror's wand fly into her hand. The short eye-patched woman took only a moment to register her surprise before spells filled the sky. The children darted apart in different directions while the chaos surrounded them. Leshia found herself separated from her dear friends and followed Julius Black down a small gully to a stream. The boy hurtled into it, dragging Leshia behind him. Up ahead a cave was looming and Black seemed determined to get there.

"Just a little further," he called out, but his grip was slipping from Leshia's wet wrist and all around them bright vibrant colours of sinister spells lit the gloomy forest. They weren't going to make it. Leshia stumbled and fell in the water. She felt herself go under moments before a sharp pain exploded in her forehead. Motionless she drifted to the surface, unable to move and drowning in the red water.

"Help," she cried out into the freezing water of the river. The sounds of the skirmish in the woods faded away to the pleasant rush of the trickling water. Leshia shut her eyes and her mind drifted from her only for a second before she was dragged from the water by an enraged Black. He held her paralysed form to his chest while he lifted his wand to meet the hungry faces of the aurors that had gathered on the riverbank. Warm blood trickled down Leshia's forehead.

"Move away from the girl," one of the more commanding members of the squad ordered while Julius' wide eyes searched for a way out of this impossible situation.

"No!" the boy roared back. "You'll have to kill me first!"

"Let her go and no one has to get hurt," the auror persisted while he motioned towards his colleagues to split up. They started circling the helpless teenagers on the other side of the bank.

"You're a liar. You're going to hurt _her_. She's got nothing to do with any of this and you know that!"

"What do you know about it boy?" the auror demanded.

"I know a hell of a lot more than you think Horatius Baccus."

The auror's eyes went wide and he stayed rooted to the spot on the opposite side of the bank. Julius sneered at the man and nodded. How could this man, this auror before him, know? How could anyone know the story of Julius Black? Not even Julius Black truly knew the story of Julius Black.

Quite suddenly there was a sharp pain and Julius slumped forward. Leshia still lay paralysed and could do nothing to turn and see what had happened to her heroic saviour. His weight felt heavy on her shoulder and at this moment the girl knew she was done for. Heavy hands reached down and lifted her from the ground. She caught sight of a grisly-scarred face before a wand was pressed to her forehead and everything went black.

XXX

Draco stared out at the terrified faces of the citizens of Hogsmeade with a heavy heart. His hands and feet were bound and his body ached from his injuries. He hadn't gone down without a fight. The aurors had come just as Draco had been sitting down to mark his seventh year pupils' mock exams when a wide-eyed Dumbledore had stormed into the room. Draco had listened with a racing heart while the elderly wizard explained what had happened.

He had run from the office and through the school without hindrance, the only thought on his mind that of keeping his daughter safe from the aurors that had swarmed the school since the news broke. Out in the grounds Draco's luck had vanished and he had fought, first with magic and then bare knuckled until the fight went out of him. There had been simply too many of them. When he awoke he was chained like a wild animal, bound in a cell that the aurors had set up in the village while the squad hunted for the younger Malfoy in the forest.

Draco had said not a word to the men stood guard. These men had been his allies once. He had served alongside each of them, saving their skins more times than they had returned the favour and now they had him trapped. They were ashamed of this Draco was certain, though the knowledge did little to soften his furious emotions. How dare they all turn on him! How dare they turn their backs on everything he had done for them. They would see him hanged to stay in favour in the ministry.

Stood nearest to the bound man was a Storik Broadsword. His eyes spoke of a pain Draco cared little for. After everything he had given to the ministry, everything he had given to Minister Crayik and Minister Broadsword, this was how they repaid him. He cared not for the personal heartbreak of a man he had considered his friend.

A small ministerial official approached the Minister of Aurors and bowed his head slightly to the aggrieved man.

"They are waiting Mr Broadsword." The small man's eyes darted towards the captive. "We need to apparate him to…"

"Not yet," Storik growled darkly. "I told you. We wait until the girl is found."

"But sir, the warden is refusing to wait for…"

"Silence," Storik commanded loudly. Several nearby officials turned to stare worriedly. "He will be given the chance to see his daughter; to say…" Storik paused and he closed his eyes and hung his head. "To say goodbye at least."

The small official looked as though he wanted to argue some more, but after glancing to the murderous cold eyes of the prisoner thought better of it and instead he darted back to the huddle of officials to tell them the bad news.

Draco looked from the pitiful ministerial servants to his former boss with disdain in his handsome face. Storik met his eyes before suddenly he turned away again. He could not look into the face of the man he had let down so enormously.

"To say goodbye," Draco echoed in a low dangerous voice. "Yes, I suppose it is goodbye isn't it. You want the girl to see me one last time before I'm hanged for a crime I didn't commit. How very magnanimous of you."

"Draco I…"

"What Storik? What? After everything I've done for you at least finish your bloody sentence."

"I won't let them hang you," Storik uttered painfully.

"Oh you won't will you? Tell me, how can I trust a damn thing you say? You once told me you'd never let them lock me up in Azkaban again, well, look at me now. It looks like you were lying then. So how can I trust you eh?"

"I'll protect her Draco," Storik uttered quietly, lifting his troubled gaze once more to Draco's enraged eyes. "I won't let them harm her."

"How?" the chained man shouted. "_How_ can you protect her? They'll hang her next and you know it!"

Tears welled in the eyes of the once great auror now chained like a dog in a cage. Yes, he knew the cowardly nature of the Minister and his lackeys. He stood no chance, of that he was certain, but what stung him more than the thought of his impending death was the thought that as soon as his little girl turned eighteen she would follow. They would wait, keeping her caged much as he was now in the lifeless rotting cells of Azkaban before they ended her life out of fear and spite. He was helpless to protect her as he had always stated he would. He himself had become the liar.

As though he had conjured her with his mind a flurry of activity preceded the arrival of a team of aurors bearing in their arms the unconscious form of Alecia Malfoy. Draco fought the chains that bound him and managed to climb to his feet in his cell. He could see the blood that had coursed down the girl's head.

"What is the meaning of this?" a loud commanding voice demanded. The aurors looked to their leader with worry in their faces. Storik Broadsword had seemingly risen to an alarming stature and his anger seemed directed solely at the would-be triumphant victors that had captured the child. "I explicitly prohibited the use of violence in capturing the child. I _told _you should any of you harm her…"

"She fell when she was trying to escape sir," the small woman with the eye-patch spoke up tremulously. "She hit her head on a submerged rock in the river."

Storik looked to the girl's soaking clothing and nodded vaguely.

"See to it that she is healed and revived."

Everyone watched while a team of healers worked on the girl for a few moments, healing the cut to her head and using a draught to bring her around. The moment Leshia's eyes opened she sprang up and skittered away from the healers. A dozen wands pointed in her direction and with a terrified gaze the girl glanced around the angry mutinous faces until finally she saw her father, chained and behind a cruel unforgiving set of bars.

"Dad," she girl cried out and she ran forward to her father's side. Leshia's thin arms easily fit through the cold metal bars and she embraced her father's chest. She was trembling once more while all around them furious faces looked to Storik for permission to act. He though was watching the reuinion between father and child with renewed heartbreak. How could he do this to his friend? How could he destroy the life of an innocent young girl?

"What's happening?" Leshia whispered tremulously, refusing to let go of Draco's chest.

"It's over Leshia," Draco whispered back, pushing his face forcefully into the top of Leshia's damp head. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't say that!" Leshia spat furiously and she pulled back to meet her father's glassy eyes. The sight of so much emotion in his face brought immediate tears to her own eyes and she wiped furiously at them. "We haven't done anything! Surely they can't just hang us both if we haven't done anything can they? There has to be a trial! There's going to be a trial isn't there dad?"

Draco looked into the girl's grey eyes and nodded.

"Yes, there will be a trial."

"Well then they'll see," Leshia spat angrily. "They'll see what a mistake they've made."

Once more she forced her arms through the bars and hugged her father, wishing more dearly than anything that she could transport herself back in time to a safer time in her life, to a more innocent time when she wasn't suspected of monstrous evil deeds.

Storik watched the family darkly while all around him the ministerial officials approached, their eyes hungry for bloodshed. He couldn't fight them off any longer. The small official had nearly reached the girl when all of a sudden a gasp rang through the group of civilians. Leshia pulled back sharply and she and Draco turned to see what had caused such a commotion. They reacted similarly to the crowd.

"It's him," Leshia managed, staring with wide eyes at the emaciated, scarred and beaten looking form of Silas Tripper. No one had seen or heard anything about the man for three weeks and now here he was, hobbling beside the Minister of Magic himself as they descended on Draco and Alecia Malfoy, a blood thirst lighting up their faces with darkness and malice.

"There they are!" Tripper growled loudly so everyone could hear. People leaned in and craned their neck's to hear better what he was about to say. "It was them! They were the ones who took me in the middle of the night from my own home!"

Leshia's mouth fell open and she looked to Draco with wide-eyed disdain. What was the fool blabbering on about now? Her father however, stared ahead; he knew what Tripper and Crayik were orchestrating here. He knew what this play-acting was supposed to achieve and by the mutinous expressions the locals were casting his way he could see they had succeeded. There wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind that Draco and Alecia Malfoy were the very worst of felons.

Crayik and Tripper came to stand before the caged former auror and for a moment hatred coursed through the air between them.

"I had no idea you were so dramatic Tripper," Draco growled darkly.

"Silence!" Minister Crayik bellowed. "Draco Malfoy and Alecia Malfoy, you are both hereby charged with treachery of the highest degree, abduction and attempted murder…"

"What?" Leshia demanded.

"Shhh," Draco urged the girl, though his adamant desire for her not to implicate herself further went unnoticed.

"Who did we try to murder exactly?" the girl demanded. Crayik's eyes darted momentarily to Tripper's cruel face. Leshia knew instantly who he meant. "Him?" she cried out indignantly. "You think we tried to kill Tripper? You're mad you are. If we'd have tried then he'd be dead right now, not kissing your…"

Quite promptly Tripper strode forward and dragged the girl from her father's side by her arm. Draco lifted his hands to the bars furiously and they groaned under his attempt to pull them free.

"Let her go!" he commanded with such fury that several members of the watching crowd turned around and scuttled off. "I'm warning you Tripper, if you don't let her go I'll…"

"You'll do what Malfoy?" the foul man goaded, dragging a furiously struggling Leshia further away from Draco's side. Draco's wide eyes sought out Storik who took only a moment to advance on the despicable gaunt man where he easily pried Leshia from his fingers and clamped her to his side protectively.

"That'll do Silas," the leader of the aurors rumbled angrily. Leshia rubbed her sore arm while she watched her father pulling at the groaning bars with wide terrified eyes. Would she ever see him again?

"I've had enough," Crayik spoke up dryly, before he glanced over his shoulder to a pair of aurors who had been watching the scene with contempt in their stern faces. They had fought alongside the imprisoned man, he had save their lives more times than they deserved, they had no wish to be a part of this. "Take him away."

The aurors sighed heavily, but they had no choice and without a word they strode forward, unlocked the cage they had trapped the former death eater behind and took his arms. Draco met his daughter's eye and she saw fear in his face. She tried to run to him, but Storik held her back.

"Where are you taking him?" she demanded wildly. A foul cackle emanated from deep within Tripper's throat.

"Where he belongs," the vile man sneered. "And with any luck you'll soon be joining him."

As though Draco had become electric, the aurors holding down his arms fell to the side leaving Draco to swarm across the clearing and drag his chained arms around Tripper's neck.

"I warned you didn't I?" Draco stated in a deathly cold tone. "I told you what would happen if you implicated my child. You're going to die for this Silas…"

The aurors had mobilised themselves and with great difficulty they dragged a surprisingly strong Draco from Tripper's neck.

"Not if you die first Draco," Tripper countered darkly. While the two men met each other's furious gazes a sob broke the silence into shatters. Everyone turned to stare at the trembling form of Leshia Malfoy, yet few found pity in their souls for the girl they believed an accomplice of the dark lord. Draco turned to look at the girl and felt his resolve weakening once more. He took a step towards her, but before he could reach the girl a strong auror at his side had grabbed hold of his arms and apparated from the spot leaving the air shimmering where moments before Draco had stood. Leshia dropped to the ground once more, tears streaming down her face.

XXX

Hermione stroked Evie's soft curls while tiredly drinking a cup of tea. It had gone eleven, but the young woman had only just awoken when Evie had demanded feeding in that very impatient way of her own. The baby was certainly displaying her strong Malfoy personality more and more as of late and it was heartbreaking for the estranged wife of Draco Malfoy to see. Oh how she wanted her husband back.

The clock had just struck quarter past eleven when suddenly a green fire spun into being in the fireplace. Hermione looked up in surprise to see a grey-faced Albus Dumbledore striding out of the fireplace. His eyes spoke of a sadness he couldn't express in words.

"Hermione," the great wizard exclaimed and he fell down at the table beside the wide-eyed woman.

"Albus? What's happened?" Hermione uttered, her throat constricted.

"You haven't seen the news?" Dumbledore asked incredulously. Hermione shook her head meekly.

"I've just got up. Albus please, it's Draco isn't it? What's happened?"

Dumbledore stared for a long time into the hazel eyes of the grieving woman before he nodded sadly.

"He's in Azkaban Hermione," he spoke plainly and winced when Hermione clapped her hands up to her mouth and he eyes instantly filled with tears.

"What?"

"And Leshia is incarcerated in the ministry holding cells."

"My God Albus, what's happened? What have they been accused of?" Hermione's shaking voice escaped her frozen face. In her lap Evie started to whimper.

"Lucius has returned with a following to rival the dark days of the war and he publicly attributed his rise to power and the imminent resurrection of Voldemort to your husband and daughter. This was the excuse Crayik needed to lock them away Hermione."

Tears trickled down Hermione's face, stifled only by Evie's podgy hands brushing at the mysterious water that kept trickling down her mother's face these days. The baby watched while Hermione dissolved into wails of agony while the old man she had encountered so rarely tried his very best to reassure her. Evie started to whimper once more when Hermione dropped her head into her arms on the table. The baby stroked her mother's hair and pulled on her top to reclaim the attention she had lost, but no one heeded her.

Evie's cries were broken by the green fire swirling into being once more in the fireplace. Expecting her father the baby looked hopefully at the person that appeared, but finding it to be that black-haired man her mother was so fond of the baby wailed loudly once more. The man stepped across the kitchen and whisked Evie from her mother's lap. The baby reached out over the man's shoulder while he carried her away from the kitchen. Her mother's sobs were rising, stifled only slightly by the appearance of that kind red-haired woman that smelled like lilies, but Evie's attempts to get her mother to come to her went in vain. She was deposited in her crib by the tall dark-haired man before being left all alone in the gloomy nursery. Evie sucked on her fingers and used the rails of her crib to climb to her unsteady feet. Her large eyes darted around the empty room, seeking the members of her family for comfort and reassurance, but no one came.

XXX

Leshia sat on the hard bed staring at the grey dripping wall of her private dungeon. She shivered in her spring jacket and stuck her freezing hands deep into her pockets to try and restore warmth to them. Something smooth met her fingers and after frowning the girl pulled out a lone lemon drop encased in its shiny wrapping. Leshia sniffed away a fresh wave of tears and carefully unwrapped the sweet. For a while the girl considered the thing in her slender fingers, wondering when she might next have a treat such as this one? Should she savour it in preparation for a life lived behind bars or eat it straight away to say goodbye to her previous life of freedom and fineries?

Tears trickled out of her eyes while she looked at the sweet. It had been the very last of Rodeo's sweet stash and she had pinched it from his bag when he wasn't watching over breakfast, assuring a mortified Katie that she would return it to him when they got to Hogsmeade. He had enjoyed teasing the girls that he was waiting for a special occasion to prise off the wrapping. Leshia sighed tremulously and slowly pushed the sweet past her dry cracked lips. It tasted bitter and sour.

It had grown late. Leshia couldn't tell what time it was, though the light creeping in through the barred door had grown dimmer until only the dusky shadows remained. The meagre blanket offered the girl little warmth in the soulless prison and so she had huddled over herself in the corner of the lumpy bed, her arms wrapped about her skinny knees. No one had come to see her yet. Voices had faded in and out of existence beyond the door, but no one had come up to it, not even Hermione.

The hours passed and the night drew on, but sleep didn't find Leshia. Her mind fought to escape the nightmares that plagued her unblinking eyes. Nothing could shunt the image of Draco being hanged from her thinking. It was routed in the depths of her desperation. So Leshia started counting, anything to numb the pain and the true horror of her situation.

"Six thousand four hundred and seventy three," the girl whispered in the dark. "Six thousand four hundred and seventy four, Six thousand four hundred and seventy five…"

But there came no six thousand four hundred and seventy six, because finally the welcome sound of footsteps approaching the door broke through the silence of the dungeons. Leshia hugged herself tighter before she lifted her eyes to the door to see a shadow block out the dim light. The keys turned in the lock and slowly a tall figure walked in. The person stared around the room, adjusting to the darkness before they located the tiny prisoner in the corner.

Heavy steps walked right up to the bed, before a weight eased itself onto the end of the girl's cot. Leshia watched while a tear rolled down Albus Dumbledore's cheek.

"Hello Leshia," he spoke kindly. The girl stared into the kind eyes of her headmaster, before suddenly a sob escaped her and she skittered to his side, burying her face into his robes, which smelled comfortingly of peppermint. It was a smell she associated with Hogwarts. For a long time Leshia wept while Dumbledore stroked her hair. He did not speak until she straightened up and met his troubled gaze.

"Is my dad still alive?" the teenager asked, voicing her deepest fear since being incarcerated in the ministry. Dumbledore nodded quickly.

"Oh yes. I have just been to visit him."

"In Azkaban," Leshia stated icily.

"Yes, in Azkaban."

Leshia hung her head and once more lifted her knees to her chest defensively. Curled up she seemed so much younger than she really was and it made Dumbledore's strength waver.

"I suppose it will come as little comfort to you that I assure you I will do everything in my power to see you both walk free once more," the old man uttered barely louder than a whisper. Leshia raised her sad eyes to the wizard before she shook her head.

"People have been telling me that for years, but look at me. There is nothing for me. No hope and no chance. I just wish you'd all stop promising me that I'm going to be okay. It makes it so much harder…"

The girl raised her hands to indicate her state, flashing as she did so the shiny scar the cruel Eye had left upon her young skin. She was a battered little thing, dragged to the very brink of existence and sanity too many times in her young life. She had become the embodiment of her father's sins. Yes, she had a right to feel abandoned and hopeless to the cruel world she had fallen victim too.

"Leshia when you were born there lay a shadow on your parents," Albus Dumbledore spoke wheezily, his mind and his body tired and aching with the gravity of his life. "You were born into a dark world under a dark sign. Your life was never going to be as straight forward as the others. There are few who have been born under such grave portents as yourself. I know only of a handful."

"So I should just die and accept that that's all that I ever had going for me," the girl uttered tiredly. Dumbledore met the girl's eyes steadily and shook his head.

"No," the great man spoke firmly. "No! You stay and you fight and you live another. You have no choice in this matter. There is always another day."

"Yeah," Leshia suddenly burst out and quite suddenly she unfolded herself, her expression livid. "There is always another day. Another day to get shafted by people like Crayik and Tripper! Another day where everyone takes what they want from me and then just leaves me rotting at the side of the road. Why does Crayik have to be such a coward sir? Why doesn't someone overthrow him?"

"Someone like who Leshia?" Dumbledore asked patiently. The girl screwed her face up in annoyance.

"I don't care _who_, just someone who's on our side; me and dad I mean. Why can't we catch a break for once?" the girl complained furiously. The elderly wizard at her side sighed heavily and his shoulders drooped.

"I'm afraid you will find very few who have remained on your side dear girl," he finally explained darkly. Leshia threw her hands to the sky and dropped back against cold damp wall. A shower of plaster sprinkled down from the ceiling.

"Because of Tripper. He framed us professor and everyone believed him! Why do people have to be so stupid? I mean of course Tripper wants to frame my dad, they hate each other," the girl ranted. "And that grandfather of mine, well he hates us too and…" Leshia made an extremely exasperated sound. "Ugh! It just makes me so angry. Why are people so _bloody_ stupid?"

A small silence filled the cell while Dumbledore watched as Leshia chest rose and fell rapidly. Eventually a smile grew on his face and he reached out to touch the girl's shoulder, to still her raging anger.

"One day they will rue the day they crossed you Alecia Malfoy," the sad old man chuckled, before he climbed slowly to his feet. Leshia sat bolt upright and watched him with enormous soulful eyes.

"You're not leaving are you sir?" a tiny voice escaped her mouth. Dumbledore nearly winced at the sight of her.

"I'm afraid I must. I was granted only five minutes of your fine company. I must go now to the Minister of Magic to prepare for the trial. It is to begin in the morning and there is much to do." Leshia's shoulders fell and she curled up into a tight ball once more.

"Is," she began softly, her heavy lashes fluttering against her pale tear-stained cheeks. "Is my mum coming to see me?"

"Of course she is," Dumbledore responded heavily. "Of course she would be here this moment if they would let her. She's waiting outside their doors and she will not leave until she is given access to you, but these things will take time Leshia. Be patient, I beseech you. Those who hold the keys to your fate are terrified."

"Terrified?" Leshia interrupted fiercely. "Of what? What do they have to be scared of? I'm the one in the cell! _I'm_ the one who could get hanged in the morning!"

"They _are_ terrified. They are terrified of you," the old headmaster spoke softly, his face drawn and ashen. "And until they know what part your mother has played in this they won't let her anywhere near you."

"Mum?" Leshia demanded, her face frozen in fear. "They're trying to blame her as well? What next? What about Evie? Do they blame her too? Maybe she helped as well; you know, grabbed a finger or an ear or something and helped us piece the dark lord back together. Hell, she can't bloody walk straight, but she can build an evil monster."

Leshia panted in anger, her quick mind analysing what she had just said. She had defended her sister…and it had felt like the right thing to do. It occurred to her in that moment that she would go to great lengths to spare the baby her own fate. These alien thoughts left the girl with a deeply furrowed brow and a well of confusion in the pit of all her obstinate emotions tied up with the memories of her sister. Dumbledore too had evidently noticed what the girl's words meant and he smiled slightly before he started shuffling back towards the door. Leshia seemed too preoccupied to notice.

"We will meet again tomorrow Leshia," the headmaster told the girl, before he turned his back on the tears that had started trickling down the child's cheeks once more. Once the heavy door had been bolted shut and the sound of the great wizard's shuffling footsteps had drifted away Leshia climbed to her feet and paced the cell. She fought the tears threatening to overthrow her and instead fumbled deep in her jeans pocket for the object Rachel had thrust into her hand. Leshia had put off thinking off her best friends and what they were up to at the castle as it brought raw agony to her heart.

The thin choker was covered in lint from Rachel's red jeans, which Leshia lovingly picked off, running her fingers over the magical device her best friend had received in second year: the speech stealer. Two of the lights were flashing on the device suggesting it had stolen two voices already. Leshia knew them both. With a lump in her throat she pressed the first button and lifted the speech stealer to her throat.

"Don't worry," the girl spoke and she quickly stifled a sob. Parys' voice had come drifting magically from her mouth. Strengthening herself the girl pressed the second button and lifted the device once more. This time she steeled herself for the voice that was about to emerge from her own mouth. "We're all thinking about you. We all want you to come home. We miss you."

Rachel's tremulous voice filled the cell as Leshia uttered comforting messages to herself in the cold gloom. The child fell asleep singing herself a lullaby in her best friend's beautiful singing voice.

XXX

Katie and Rachel stood side by side outside the heavy door in the dank dark corridor of the ministry of magic. They were pressed up against one another, hands entwined while they waited alongside the other witnesses. They were exhausted, as they hadn't slept since the night before. Leshia's absence from the castle had been too traumatising for the girl's best friends and they had instead been granted permission to floo home to their grieving families, who tried their best to cheer the teenagers up. Dumbledore had come for them early to explain that they would be character witnesses for both Leshia and Draco and that they were to dress for the ministry. On the way the old man explained that they should emotionally steel themselves for a trying few weeks. Criminal trials could go on for months and they were to expect their best friend's name to be dragged through the mud and slandered in the worst possible ways. The girls had nodded, but nothing could prepare them for the headlines in the papers that first Sunday morning:

_Death-Eater father and daughter pair behind bars after trying to resurrect the Dark Lord._

_Alecia Malfoy; school girl, quidditch prodigy, murderess…_

_Draco and Alecia Malfoy behind bars where they belong!_

_Silas Tripper's Trauma: Death at the hands of the Malfoys_

Katie was still trembling from anger as she and Rachel filed into antechamber to the courtroom. They squeezed in side by side in an armchair, their hands still entwined. All around them familiar and unfamiliar faces jostled around gravely. Their parents sat down nearby, their own faces drawn. Rachel scanned the faces to distract herself from her troubling thoughts and found to her surprise the ashen face of Professor Snape. The man seemed deeply troubled and Rachel found him mesmerising. After a while the potions master became aware of the redhead's gaze and he looked up to meet her eye; he seemed so terribly sad. They watched one another for a while before Rachel tore her gaze away to offer her cousin strength. Katie's anger had turned to a deep sadness once more and she had started crying again.

"Hey," Rachel offered quietly. "It'll be okay Katie. We'll get Leshia back."

Katie sniffed and shut her eyes sending a cascade of tears flooding down her cheeks. She wanted so badly to believe her cousin.

"Yes," she forced herself to say. "Everything will be okay." Rachel nodded to herself, willing the words to come true.

"Leesh is strong Kate," the girl breathed firmly. "She's brave and she's strong. She'll convince them. I bet she's laughing now, I bet she'll be seeing the funny side to all this. She's going to go out there, her head held high and she's going to show them they've made a big mistake!"

XXX

Leshia's feet dragged as she was led heavy-handedly towards the subterranean courtroom. The girl let her eyes fall to the ground to avoid the suspicious glares she was being cast from all those she passed. The guard leading her was doing so with a firm grip and by the time they had reached the door to the court room Leshia felt her skin starting to bruise. Thankfully they reached the door to the courtroom soon enough and Leshia was bolstered into the crowded chamber. The girl's head hung further and she closed her eyes while she shuffled in. There was a sharp intake of breath and she could hear words such as 'murdered', 'death eater' and 'guilty' being banded around freely. Her heart sank deeper into the deep recesses of her self while she made her way up to the platform where the shackled chair stood waiting for her.

Only when she reached its side did she dare lift her eyes.

"Dad!" the girl exploded, as there, chained to a chair sat Draco Malfoy. Pale, dishevelled, pasty and frail, the man seemed a shell of his former self. Azkaban had stolen more from him than his freedom. The man lifted his gaze to see his state of wellbeing mirrored in his innocent daughter and his expression crumpled slightly. The girl was trying to run to him, but the cruel guard at her side had his fingers clamped tightly about her shoulder. Forcefully Leshia was thrown into the seat at Draco's side where the shackled instantly tried to tighten themselves, but Leshia was far too small for such a contraption and she easily pulled her hand free and tried to reach out for her father.

"They're too loose," the guard growled while he grabbed his charge's hand and forced it back into the shackle. Once more Leshia's hand came free. A kafuffle at the side of the courtroom preceded the arrival of an official looking wizard who glanced nervously at the young prisoner before pointing his wand to the shackle and uttering the spell _minoria_ under his breath. The shackled tightened around Leshia's skinny wrists while the girl maintained her father's gaze.

Their wrists and feet now shackled the guards stepped back revealing the prisoners to the eyes of the Wizengamot who looked down from their lofty benches. They seemed far more threatening than they had before. Leshia flexed her little finger at the same time that Draco did so and in that moment their fingers found one another. A small sight of relief escaped the troubled father as he found this tiny way to still the frantic breathing of his teenaged daughter, who seemed on the brink of hyperventilating.

In the centre of the gathered Wizengamot the small figure of Maxwell Pax climbed to his feet. His face spoke of his troubled thoughts and despite the gravity of the situation a small smile wormed its way on to Leshia's face. She knew the small man to be an ally. The whispers in the courtroom died down as the chairman rose to his feet and a respectful silence followed while he glanced from one pale face to the next.

"We will begin," he began croakily, before he stopped with a heavy sigh. Everyone stared while the sad chairman took a sip from his water before he turned his bespectacled eyes on the chained family down below. "We will begin by establishing your credentials. You sir, you are Draco Malfoy, born June fifth nineteen eighty, teacher of Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"

A murmur went around the room while down in the midst of it all Draco lifted his jaw in defiance. He nodded once.

"Yes. I am he."

Maxwell Pax nodded thoughtfully before he turned his eyes on the younger Malfoy, his gaze softening starkly.

"And you, your name is Alecia Trysten Malfoy, born sixteenth of November two thousand, fourth year pupil at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"

Leshia glanced around the menacing expressions of the Wizengamot before she met the compassionate eyes of the chair.

"You know that's who I am," she finally spoke. "You asked me last time. Remember?"

"Yes Miss Malfoy," Pax replied gravely. "I remember."

Leshia sighed and turned her eyes on her father, who was staring at the chairman with an unreadable expression. Whatever secret communication had passed between them she was not privy to, but after staring intently at Draco the man turned to grant his daughter a comforting smile. His fingers reached out slightly further to squeeze the girl's and so the trial began.

XXXXXXXXXX

A shorter than normal chapter, but you've all waited so long, I thought you wouldn't mind. I wrote this while listening to the soundtrack of the Goblet of Fire and the Half-Blood Prince – only the sad songs – and it works quite well I feel. I will update again soon with the final chapter of the story.


	13. Part Thirteen

**Generations: Rebel Inside**

**Part XIII**

The weeks slowly started to pass and life at Hogwarts returned to normal for most of the student body. The names Leshia Malfoy and Professor Malfoy no longer rang from every corner of the castle and most people soon forgot about the plight of the young girl and her father. It was only during Defence Against the Dark Arts, which was being covered by a placid woman sent by the ministry of magic, that many remembered their missing teacher and his turbulent daughter. The student body had divided themselves into three ranks, those who staunchly stuck by the Malfoys' protestations of innocence (namely Gryffindor and most of the third, fourth and fifth years of the school), those who aggressively believed the Malfoys were guilty and should be hanged (namely the snake house) and those who either didn't know what to believe or didn't care.

Katie and Rachel had become shells of their former selves and ambled about the castle in a permanently sombre state. Laughter no longer rang out from their corner of the common room and everyone who saw the cousins could see they were grieving painfully for their missing companion. Neither had seen nor heard from their ringleader since this sorry business began. They had not yet been called as witnesses during the trial, which, if the newspapers were to be believed, was raging ahead spuriously and unpredictably. At first they had waited in the antechamber, fighting to catch a glimpse of their friend when the door opened leading into courtroom every time one of their fellow witnesses was called. After several days of missed schoolwork Professor McGonagall insisted they be allowed to return to school, to be sent for should they be needed to take to the stand.

So now the girls waited on tenterhooks, looking up every time someone opened the door to the room that held them. Both had long ago abandoned what their teachers told them and for the most part their teachers sympathised and allowed the pair to daydream into a happier past. Life was slowly ticking along to the march of time, though no joy was to be had from it.

Three weeks to the day since Leshia's capture and Katie and Rachel filed into the Great Hall to take their place along Gryffindor table for breakfast. There was a peculiar atmosphere about the place. The members of the Lion's house seemed subdued as they stared out at the curious happiness in their peers' faces. Every now and then an awkward silence would break across the hall as too many people had been caught staring. The uniformed members of the champion Gryffindor quidditch side were casting about such furious glares at anyone caught staring, they were able to silence the whole hall with but a few choice glowers. Yes, it had come to the last game of the season and with it the new quidditch champions would be decided. Gryffindor were trailing behind Slytherin by a mere point, though they had a game in hand. Should they win then they would reclaim their title, should they lose and they would have to hand over the trophy that had stood proudly in Gryffindor tower for the past four years.

Mila Ivanovitch looked up from her toast to glance at the seeker who had been drafted in to replace Leshia. Wendy Bones was a good flyer and one of Mila's closest friends. She had faith her friend could catch the snitch in good order, but the veteran Gryffindor player also knew the young woman was no match for the prodigy that was Alecia Malfoy. It just felt wrong, Mila thought with a sigh, to step onto the pitch in the absence of the young player who had thrown more into the team than even Mila herself. Leshia's dedication to quidditch went beyond that of the others. She was sorely missed by her broken team, by none more so than Owen Gabriel.

Owen sat now, his blank eyes staring ahead at his plate. His once ever-present cheeky smile had become such a rarity now that there were those amongst his closest friends that felt they ought to have photographed it when they had the chance. The boy was a shadow of his former self and spent a lot of his time sat in silence with Katie and Rachel in the window box, their listless faces a portrait of heartbreak. Owen knew it was wrong to go out onto that pitch without their seeker at their side. He hadn't wanted to do it, but had been cajoled into doing so by a suddenly determined Katie and Rachel. The pair had told him that Leshia would be spitting furious if he threw away their chance at glory. He had nearly believed them, but they all knew the score: Gryffindor would play, no matter the cost.

The tall fifth year watched as the rest of the team clambered to their feet, their faces grim and set in resolute expressions. With a sigh Owen joined them, his eyes seeking out the upturned faces of Katie and Leshia, who were watching him sadly. A nod of acknowledgement passed between them before Owen turned his broad shoulders on the girls and walked away with the eyes of the school following in his wake. Before too long the hall was emptying leaving Katie, Rachel, Parys and Rodeo behind staring at one another quietly.

"What do we do?" Parys finally broke the silence. "I mean, do we go…or not?"

Rodeo looked from his best friend to the faces of the girls to gauge their expressions. He dearly wanted to see the game, to know Gryffindor's fate first hand, but he didn't want to abandon the girls to their misery alone. The morning had been particularly difficult for them.

"I'm not going," Rachel finally spoke softly, her eyes meeting Parys' concerned gaze.

"Well then I'm not going either," the boy insisted loyally, bringing a whisper of a smile to Rachel's pretty face.

"You should go if you want to," she countered. "And you do want to, both of you, don't you?"

The boys exchanged a sidelong glance that spoke more than a thousand words. Katie now smiled and reached out a hand to push Rodeo's shoulder away from her side.

"Go you idiots," she told them fondly. "Let us mope in peace and quiet."

It took a little while longer for the pair to slink off after the rest of the school, hoping they hadn't missed the start of the game leaving Rachel and Katie sat in the empty great hall. After the silence started to become oppressive the pair stood up and made their way through to the entrance hall.

"Where shall we go?" Katie asked while they headed for the grand staircase. Rachel shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, everyone's out there on the pitch, so we've got free run of the school I guess." Katie's eyes went wide.

"Really? Well then can we go to the library please?" the raven-haired girl asked hopefully. Rachel spun around and stared with a mortified expression at her cousin.

"You're joking!" she accused, but when she saw the guilty expression on Katie's face she quickly changed her tack, "Oh no Katie! I am not going to accompany you to the library when we could loaf around on the comfy settees in the common room without being kicked off by the upper years."

"Fine," Katie sighed. "You go to the common room and I'll go to the library by myself. I've always wondered what it's like in there when there's no one around."

"But you're always in there by yourself," Rachel complained, hiding the hurt that materialised in her face at Katie's suggestion that they separate. She needed Katie to get her through. "I mean while the rest of the school spends their summers out in the grounds, you do have a habit of swotting up in the library."

Katie was about to retort when the two girls suddenly became aware of the footsteps following in their wake. After glancing to one another they spun around, catching a tall youth off guard. Julius Black lifted his peculiar eyes onto the girls and then dropped his gaze to the floor once more.

"Where are you going?" Rachel asked him. She didn't know what to make of the enigma, he had surprised them all that dreadful day Leshia had been taken.

"The library," the boy responded quietly.

"You mean you're not out there with the rest of them?" the redhead persisted. Julius Black paused and glanced himself up and down, before he held out his arms at his side.

"So it would seem."

"Yeah alright," Rachel grumbled. "What I meant is why?"

"Rachel," Katie complained. "Sorry Julius, we didn't mean to bother you."

With this the taller of the cousin's dragged her fiery younger companion away from the Slytherin enigma to the staircase that ascended to the Gryffindor common room. Rachel was suppressing a stream of indignity at Katie's words to Julius Black, but it would seem they would have to wait. There, in the distance, someone was clambering out of the Gryffindor portrait hole, someone who definitely ought not to have been there.

"You!" Rachel bellowed across the corridor, breaking into a run when the sly young man ahead of them darted at the sight of them. Rachel was quick and within moments she had caught up Damian Allseyer. It had helped that he was heavily weighed down by a sack full of things he had slung over his shoulder.

"You thief!" Rachel cried out furiously, snatching the sack from the boy before he could stop her. She peered inside incredulously, her face growing more horrified with every second until finally she looked up, more livid than she had ever felt. Furiously she snatched up her wand and came face to face with the wand of Leshia's nemesis.

"You're stealing Leshia's things!" Rachel accused frantically. "Why? Why would you do that? Isn't it enough that she's rotting away in some cell? You filthy disgusting…"

The rest of Rachel's angry outburst was silenced by the heavy footsteps of a pair of people on the stairs above them. Rachel looked up to see Katie emerge, her wand held into the small of Violet Pazz, Damian Allseyer's accomplice in his dormitory raid.

"I found this one trying to sneak out as well," Katie growled angrily, shoving Violet Pazz to stand beside Damian Allseyer.

"Look Katie, they were stealing Leshia's stuff," Rachel exclaimed passionately, handing the sack over to her disbelieving cousin. Katie glanced inside the bag, catching sight of a swathe of Leshia's belongings. The sight of them made tears well in her eyes.

"You lowlife piece of…"

"Oh shut up," Allseyer complained, waving his wand from one furious cousin's face to the next. "It's not like she'll need those anymore anyway is it? Not where she's going."

"Shut up," Rachel spat, her own wand trembling with the strength she was having to put into staving her tongue from uttering the words of a curse she would no doubt regret. Allseyer looked to the redhead with a snide leer.

"Having trouble adjusting to the truth are you Weasley?" he jeered. "My father's on the Wizengamot and he's told me all about your pitiful little friend's trial. It'll be over in a few days you know, they've already made up their mind."

"I'm warning you," Rachel hissed, her pretty face twisting into something quite unrecognisable as the hatred coursed through her. "If you don't shut up I'm going to…"

Rachel stepped back with wide eyes as Damian Allseyer burst into a cackling laugh. The boy bent double and shook his head.

"You're too much Weasley. As though I'd be scared of you? Who ever heard of a Weasley who ever actually amounted to anything? You're pathetic, the lot of you. I bet the worst you could do with that is give me a slight headache. No wonder that blood-traitor friend of yours is headed for the gallows with friends like you…"

"You know you're right," Rachel seethed, glancing to her wand resignedly. "I can't do much with this, but you forgot about this!"

Quite suddenly and without warning Rachel reached out and threw a ferocious fist into Damian Allseyer's sharp nose. Blood exploded from his face while Violet Pazz screamed shrilly. Katie stared in shock at her cousin, who seemed rather surprised herself.

Hurried footsteps sounded before the billowing cloak of Professor Snape rounded the corner, preceding the man himself. The potions master cast the scene before him a bemused look, his eyes coming to rest on the Gryffindor girls.

"Professor," Katie quickly garbled. "Damian Allseyer and Violet Pazz robbed our dormitory. Look sir, they were trying to steal her things. He wound Rachel up, he was telling us Leshia's going to be hanged sir…"

Katie trailed off while a dumfounded Snape took the sack from Katie's hand and peered in. His ashen face turned to stare incredulously at the bleeding young man.

"Is this true?" the professor asked, his tone steely and cold. Damian Allseyer cowered under the man's probing gaze. "Get out of my sight!"

Katie and Rachel both fought to hide their smirks as Damian Allseyer skittered away from his enraged head of house. They soon regained their composure though when Snape turned his wild eyes on them. There lay compassion in his face that neither had seen before and for a few moments an awkward silence filled the stairwell.

"I've been sent to get you," Snape finally spoke softly. "It's time."

Rachel and Katie reached out for one another's hands as the tall professor strode from their sides. They didn't glance to one another as they followed him to the once Malfoy family chambers to the only hearth linked to the floo network in the whole castle. They each uttered their commands as their dropped their floo powder in a state of shock and followed their teacher down to the courtroom without a word.

The antechamber was full of sober faces the children recognised, but before they could speak Katie was led forward by a ministerial official.

"Katherine Potter?" the feeble woman asked while Katie nodded numbly. Katie was led away leaving Rachel staring after her cousin as the girl disappeared through the corridor. Feeling deflated and jittery Rachel forced herself to sit down on a chintzy armchair. Professor Snape sat down nearby and once more the pair met one another's gaze.

"Damian Allseyer," Rachel spoke through a dry throat. "Well, he said the trial hasn't been going well. He said sir…he said they've already made up their minds."

Severus Snape watched the girl, his fingers touching at the tips and rising to meet his chin. He was wondering how much to divulge and Rachel knew as much.

"Please sir, don't hide the truth from me. I need to know."

The potions master exhaled steadily before he shook his head.

"He told you the truth," he finally spoke gravely. "Things are not going well. We are losing the battle against fear."

Rachel stifled the tears prickling in her eyes and she rubbed furiously at her tingling nose. Snape held her glassy gaze.

"So they'll be hanged," the girl managed weakly. "Leshia, they're going to kill her aren't they?"

Snape's expression grew very drawn and the man dropped his gaze finally from the heartbreak in the youngster's face.

"Eventually? Yes, they will have your friend killed. The minister's fear has swept through the Wizengamot, he has poisoned them."

"And Leshia's going to pay the price? Professor! It's not right! Can't we do anything to save her?" Rachel exhaled passionately, sitting forward in the settee, her blue eyes alive with anger. "She's done nothing wrong!"

People were turning to stare, their expressions tumultuous. Their sentiments all mirrored the girl's, as did Snape's, but what could be done had been done. Leshia and Draco's fates were out of their hands.

"There is nothing else to be done," the potions master spoke heavily and no more words passed between them. Tears trickled from Rachel's livid eyes while she waited in the oppressive silence of the antechamber. The minutes ticked on until finally the door to the narrow corridor creaked open and in walked a pale-faced Katie. Her cheeks were tearstained and her expression spoke of the horror that lay within the courtroom. Rachel jumped to her feet and ran to Katie's side.

"What happened?" Rachel demanded, but all Katie could do was shake her head and reach out to clasp Rachel's hands.

"Rachel Weasley?" the feeble woman was now calling out, taking hold of Rachel's shoulders and leading her away from Katie. The flame-haired girl tried to hold on to Katie's hands, but she was pulled away and into the dim corridor. Up ahead a broad brightly lit space was looming and all of a sudden Rachel had no desire to see it. She tried to turn, but she was cajoled further and further until finally she reached a wooden box row of seats where she sat down under the probing eyes of the Wizengamot. Rachel's wide eyes searched their cruel faces, until finally her gaze drifted down into the centre of the room.

A gasp escaped Rachel's mouth and she pulled her hands up to cover her shock. There, chained, broken, starved and destroyed sat her childhood best friend. Leshia was barely recognisable, her usually glorious hair lay dank and unwashed on her shoulders, her dirty clothes draped off her bony form and her deathly pale face had sunken in and pulled tight over her bones. Nothing though could have prepared Rachel for the lifeless expression in Leshia's face. The girl hadn't even looked up as Rachel's name had been announced to the courtroom.

At her side sat the girl's father. He had fared even worse than his child and had Rachel not known his identity she would never have known it was Draco Malfoy. This skinny bearded man was not even a shadow of his former self. They had been tortured and the sight of it brought raw fury into Rachel's heart.

"Leshia!" Rachel called out firmly.

"Miss Weasley, you will speak only when addressed by the defence and the prosecution," a thin powerful woman spoke in a serene voice. Rachel ignored her.

"Leshia look up! Please! It's me, Rachel!"

Down below the listless eyes of Alecia Malfoy glanced upwards only briefly. For a moment the expression in the prisoner's face became twisted in a moment of pain before it was gone and the girl looked down to the floor once more.

"What have you done to her you monsters?" Rachel accused angrily. She stepped forward to the edge of the box to meet the faces of the Wizengamot.

"Silence," a rasping voice rang out from below. The redhead squinted to make out the owner of that horrible tone. She knew the scarred face well and when she finally laid eyes on Silas Tripper, stood barely inches from her position in the witness stand the girl went against her good upbringing and spat viciously in the man's face.

Uproar filled the chamber while Rachel was lifted away from the edge and towards the corridor once more by ministry officials who appeared as though from nowhere to drag the girl away.

"She's innocent!" Rachel screamed as she went. "They've done nothing wrong! Tripper's a liar! He's a dangerous monster! He's always had it in for Leshia! Don't trust him…"

The rest of Rachel enraged rant was blocked out as the girl was brought kicking and screaming into the antechamber. Within moments the potions master had reached the girl's side. His terrifying expression he turned on the officials that still held her.

"Let the girl go now," the terrifying man spoke forcefully. The burly men looked to one another before they nodded and pushed Rachel into the room before turning back into the corridor. The flame-haired youngster wheeled around and pelted the door with fists while at her side Katie ran forward to wrap her arms around her cousin's shoulders.

"Rachel," Katie pleaded. "Rachel please, calm down."

"You saw her," Rachel exclaimed in anguish, turning on her cousin with desperation in her pretty face. "You saw what they've done to her. She couldn't even look up Katie. She couldn't even recognise me! They've destroyed her!"

"Miss Weasley," Snape spoke quietly and he indicated the girls follow him. He led them out into the corridor beyond and led them a way they hadn't used on their arrival.

"Where are we going?" Katie asked weakly.

"I am taking you back to the castle," Snape replied.

"But sir, the castle's that way," the raven-haired girl countered. The potions master turned to look at her momentarily, before he turned his gaze back on a door guarded by two aurors. Rachel, who had not been watching the potion master's wand gasped in surprise when the burly pair fell to the ground.

"Sir!" Katie exclaimed in surprise; she _had _been watching and had seen what the Potions Master had done. Snape ignored the girl and he reached past the unconscious men to pull open the heavy metal door. The gloomy courtroom loomed beyond a dark corridor.

"Go," Snape commanded brusquely. "To say goodbye."

Without needing to be told twice the cousins crept down the corridor, their hearts beating thunderously in their chests. The darkness surrounded them, dampening their hurried footsteps as there, up ahead Leshia's slumped form neared. The pair broke into a run. Someone sounded the alarm. There was a flurry of activity. Katie was waylaid by a thin man at the end of the corridor, but Rachel broke free. She fell upon Leshia like a wave of emotion, wrapping her arms around the prisoner's putrid form.

"Rachel," a small sound escaped from beneath Rachel's bear hug. The girl pulled back slightly to meet Leshia's dark sunken eyes. Tears started to form in those grey orbs and for a moment Rachel stifled her sobs. Her poor chained friend was unable to do so. "Rachel!" Leshia sobbed.

"I'll never let them get away with what they've done to you," Rachel insisted passionately. Several hands had taken hold of her arms and legs and were trying to pull her away, but Rachel clung onto the bony form of her best friends. "I'll never forget you Leshia! I'll never forget what they've done to you. I swear!"

"Rachel," Leshia sobbed once more. "Don't go! Don't leave me."

The redhead had now been prized off the small prisoner and the girl's met one another's eye. Raw heartbreak screamed in their eyes as Rachel was pulled further and further away.

"Rachel!" Leshia called out once more, but her friend was gone, the lasting memory of her tormented twisted face ingrained on her battered mind.

XXX

Hermione stood outside the cell, her puffy eyes staring blindly ahead as the bolts were released. A month had passed and just as her husband and daughter had become mere shells of their former selves, so too had Hermione. She had not been granted access to her incarcerated family members nor had she been allowed to visit their trial. She herself was being suspected of all manner of foul deeds and had up until this point not been trusted to come within a hundred yards of her family members.

That is, until this evening. Everything was different now, all hope was lost and Hermione Granger-Malfoy was being granted this last chance to say goodbye to her firstborn daughter, who was to be charged with high treason, attempted murder, abduction and all manner of evil lesser charges in the morning alongside Hermione's dear estranged husband.

Clutched to her hip was Evie, who seemed unusually subdued. As though the baby knew the gravity of the situation, she had been quietly whimpering all day. Hermione had barely heeded her, spending her morning in a catatonic state while Ginny and Harry tearfully broke the latest news from the trial.

The door ahead of her fell forward revealing the dark cell that had entombed her oldest child these last four weeks. Hermione stepped inside, her eyes adjusting to the gloom. At first she couldn't see her little girl. The cell appeared empty. The young woman was about to turn back, when suddenly Evie's podgy little hand flew across the cell and her face lit up.

"Lih!" the baby cried. In the corner of the room a little lump that Hermione had assumed to be rags unfolded and became the horribly deformed shape of her daughter. Leshia's face seemed disbelieving, as she looked her mother up and down. Since the day of Dumbledore's visit no one had stepped over the threshold of the cell. There were many who had tried, but none had been granted access to the girl many feared to be the apprentice of the dark lord.

"Oh Leshia," Hermione exhaled. Her emotions were threatening to overwhelm her, but the sight of her floundering little girl made Hermione stifle her own private agony to help soothe her child. "Come here."

Gingerly the little shape in the corner climbed to its feet and started to cross the cell; slowly at first, but within no time the teenager and broken into a run. By the time she reached her mother she nearly bowled the short woman off her feet.

"Mum!" Leshia wailed into her mother's shoulder. "You came!"

"Of course I came," Hermione countered passionately. "I've been trying to see you since the day they put you in here. Oh my darling, look what they've done to you."

Hermione tried to pry the girl off, but she clung on tighter still.

"I'm so sorry mum," Leshia exclaimed. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry! I never meant to hurt you. Mum I'm so sorry."

"Hey!" Hermione stated firmly and she prized Leshia's weak arms off her shoulders and looked probingly into her daughter's eyes. "_I'm_ sorry. My poor darling, I'm the one who's sorry."

For a moment Leshia's lower lip trembled, before finally the first giggle in four weeks passed over her lips, before she looked to the curious face of her little sister. The baby was the spitting image of the pictures Leshia had seen of herself at that age.

"I could have got to know you," Leshia told the baby sadly and she reached out a pale hand to her sister. Evie quickly reached out her own podgy fingers and wrapped them around Leshia's thumb. Leshia smiled and looked into her mother's tortured face.

"Tell her about me," she suddenly pleaded. "When she's older. Tell her all about me! Won't you mum? Please? I want her to be proud of me."

Tears leaked over Hermione's cheeks, but the mother nodded firmly.

"Every day and every night."

Hermione dropped her forehead against Leshia's clammy face and for a moment the sound of their sniffing tears filled the cell. The morbid quiet was broken by a cry in the distance. Leshia and Hermione pulled away from one another and looked with wide eyes to the corridor Hermione had taken.

"What was that?" Leshia gasped. Hermione dragged her elder daughter into the crook of her arm and clutched Evie close with her other.

"I don't know."

Screams were drifting down into the dark cells, accompanied by the pounding thuds of explosions. The floor beneath their feet shook. Leshia started trembling, but Hermione held firm and gripped the girl even tighter.

Heavy footsteps filled the corridor outside and without thinking Hermione started edging Leshia away from the door. Out in the corridor a scuffle rang out and muted cries wafted in. Spells lit up the air and quite suddenly as though from nowhere two men came bursting into the cell. Hermione and Leshia screamed while Evie started wailing in shock and panic. Hermione instinctively felt for her wand, but found it gone, confiscated as she entered the detention block of the ministry. The two men rolled on the floor; curses flew around, until finally a green flash of light ended the existence of one of the fighters. Hermione pulled back against the wall, her children clasped to her front while before them the gaunt wasted form of Silas Tripper straightened up. His eyes were deranged.

"You!" Hermione screamed. Quite suddenly the man lifted his wand and Leshia and her mother scattered. There wasn't something quite right with the despicable man and he wasn't quick enough to prevent Leshia from taking the fallen man's wand from his hand.

"_Corripio ingressus_," the foul man rasped and within moments Hermione found herself frozen, her terrified baby slipping from her grasp. Before her eyes the mother watched as Tripper turned his wand on her older child. Curses filled the room, lit up by the bright sinister sparks. Leshia was quick, but her rival was a seasoned auror and knew more than the fourth year schoolgirl. Leshia was losing the battle.

"_Avada kedavra_!"

Leshia slumped to the ground while Hermione watched from her private cell within her mind. Her soul screamed and wailed while she remained frozen. The white light of the spell Leshia had released at the same time as the killing curse fizzled out leaving the darkness of the cell once more.

The vile beast that was Tripper straightened up from the lifeless form of the girl on the floor and turned on her frozen mother. A sneer filled the ugly man's face before he hobbled over to the tortured mother. Easily he snatched the squirming crying baby from her arms, before he stooped to lift the motionless body of the girl onto his shoulder. While the tormented woman watched Tripper held his wand to the baby's throat and uttered a soft incantation under his breath. Evie's wails fell silent.

"Goodbye mudblood," the foul man sneered, before he lifted a shimmering cloak from his deep pocket. With difficulty the murderer slung the invisibility cloak about his shoulders and with him went the daughters of Hermione and Draco Malfoy.

XXX

Draco sat in the shaft of light, letting the warmth of it dance over his face. He had enjoyed the window many dozen yards above his head over his month's imprisonment in Azkaban. On some days he had been lucky enough to hear the birdsong as the innocent creatures nested high above his tomb. This stimulus had kept him going in his darkest moments.

No creature or soul had crossed his threshold in the four weeks he had been chained within the cramped dark cell. Draco Malfoy had been isolated within the misery of his broken heart and now the end had come he had no more tears to shed. In the darkness he had cried. He had cried for days and nights. He had cried for everything he had lost and all the pain his life had caused. He had wished he'd never been born.

Hermione. Thoughts of her he had treasured in the deepest recesses of his mind. He didn't want to tarnish her with this place. He would die believing her to be better off for his passing. He never should have laboured her with his love. He never should have destroyed her life with his incipient evils.

As though he had conjured her Draco Malfoy looked up to the sound of his metal door being torn open and there suddenly his wife stood. Draco's eyes narrowed at the state of her and at the men bustling in in her wake. What strength he had left dragged Draco to his feet and he faced the wife he hadn't seen in over a month.

"Draco," Hermione wailed and she fell on her husband's bony form. She wept openly into his dank shirt. "Draco! Leshia's dead Draco! He killed her! Leshia's dead!"

The life went out of the tall death-eater and for a moment Draco stumbled backwards. Hermione rushed to help him stand once more and met her husband's dark soulless eyes.

"What?" the man mumbled.

"Tripper," Hermione wept. "Tripper killed Leshia Draco and he's taken Evie! He's a traitor!"

Behind Hermione a frightened looking Crayik came into view beside the visibly shaken form of Albus Dumbledore. Draco's cold eyes drifted from his wife to the face of the minister.

"I don't believe you," he finally whispered, his eyes seeking out Hermione's once more.

"Draco," the woman groaned. "I know what I saw…"

"Don't you think I'd know if she were dead?" the man urged desperately, stealing Hermione's voice from her throat. The despairing mother dropped her head into her hands and she trembled violently.

"Hermione," Draco uttered quietly. "She's not dead."

The wail escaped his wife like a crack of thunder and quite suddenly the woman bolted from the room leaving Draco alone with the Minister of Magic and Albus Dumbledore. Draco's murderous eyes met those of the man who would see him hanged. Crayik shivered.

"We believe Silas has been acting under the Imperius curse all along," the minister spoke darkly, dropping his gaze from Draco Malfoy's furious gaze. "He killed seven aurors before he killed your…" Crayik shuddered at the growl that emanated from deep within the man chained before him. "Before he abducted your daughters. We believe he has been working for Lucius Malfoy and that he has taken them to him now."

"Release me."

"How Draco? How can I release you? After the trial…"

"Which you now know was a complete lie! Surely you must see now," Draco shouted. "Surely you must see how he's poisoned you. Let me find him! Please! I _must _find him."

Crayik looked to Albus Dumbledore to see that he stood little chance. Even if he didn't pardon Draco's release, it would seem the venerable headmaster would release him of his own accord.

"How do I know you won't just let him go again?" the minister demanded weakly. Draco's head fell forward in astonishment.

"I am going to kill him," the chained man stated with such conviction it made Crayik shudder slightly.

"Will you?" the minister demanded. "You couldn't the last time. What makes you think you can this time?"

"He has my children!" Draco roared so loudly the feeble man in front of him took several paces back. "My wife is convinced one of them is dead. _Do you really think I'd let him walk away_?"

XXX

Tripper emerged in the dank dilapidated room of the boarded up London townhouse. He threw the cloak from his shoulders and dropped the deadweight on his shoulder onto the ground. The baby in his arms was squirming so wildly he had to clamp her down tightly.

"Stop struggling," he sneered. "You're with your old granddad now, there's nothing to be scared of. You're rid of that foul mudblood mother of yours for ever."

The baby did stop struggling, but only to stare with wide eyes across the room at the straggly man sat cross-legged by the fireplace. The man was in a trance and as Tripper turned to look at the emaciated form of Lucius Malfoy his eyes rolled back in his head.

As though a string had been attached to the top of Lucius Malfoy's head, the thin old man suddenly rose like a puppet while a terrified Silas Tripper skittered away from him. Tripper's eyes roamed from the baby to the teenager he had dropped to the floor and then back once more to the baby.

"_Reddo sonitus,_" the frightened man uttered in a quiet voice and quite suddenly Evie found her voice. She looked to the scarred face of her abductor with a wisdom he ought not to have seen in eyes so young. Tripper looked away from the baby sharply, his guilt bringing tears to his eyes.

"Give her to me," the sharp icy voice of Lucius Malfoy snaked across the room. Quite suddenly he was in front of Tripper, who was helpless but to hand the squirming fussing baby over to her grandfather. Lucius didn't even cast his slave a second glance as his eyes instead fell on the frightened expression on his granddaughter's face, leaving Tripper to skitter away into the corner and drop down against the wall, his eyes never leaving the motionless girl on the carpet.

"Cry all you want," Lucius crowed to the crying baby. "It won't save you. No one will hear you; especially not dear mummy and daddy. Oh no no no young Evie, you will never see them again."

Evie wailed loudly while Lucius paced the creaking floorboards to stand over the lifeless form of the baby's sister.

"Do you see what happens?" he sneered and he reached out a foot to press into the girl's side. "Do you see what happens to those who stand in my way? Oh no, not you though, you're too young to be so foolishly loyal to that treacherous son of mine. My mistake was trying to take her when she was too old to turn against him. You on the other hand…yes, you will do nicely."

As though understanding his every word Evie was wailing so loudly her scream pierced Lucius' mind and having quite had enough of the baby he turned to deposit her on the armchair before he turned on his slave, who lay slumped against the wall, his wide eyes never leaving the girl on the floor. He must have been mistaken…did he just see her twitch? What had that spell been that she had cast just before his curse collided with it? Had the killing curse truly struck the girl?

"You," the cold voice of Lucius Malfoy cut through Silas Tripper's memories like a knife. The snivelling man looked up frightenedly. "What ever do I do with you now? Oh yes, you have served me well, very well in fact, but now, I believe I have no use for you."

Down on the carpet the seemingly lifeless girl opened her eyes groggily. Tripper's own eyes went wide and quickly he rose to his feet, hoping to distract Lucius Malfoy's attention long enough.

'Long enough for what?' the man thought wildly, while his mouth started talking, "You think it's that easy do you?" Tripper cried out loudly, trying to raise his voice loud enough to rouse the girl on the carpet. "You think the ministry are going to let you get away with any of this? They'll hunt you down and kill you!"

Down on the carpet Alecia Malfoy lifted her head. Her whole body ached from head to toe, but something pressing was fighting for her attention. Her mind wasn't focusing very well, but very slowly she was becoming aware of her surroundings. The sound of men shouting filled her ears, as did a baby's cries…no, not just any baby! Leshia knew those wails. Quite suddenly she was aware of the situation and silently Leshia looked up to see her sister placed on an armchair by the door while in the corner of the room her grandfather was pacing towards a man Leshia hated more than any.

For a wild moment Silas Tripper looked to Leshia and caught her eye. His mind screamed at her to take this chance and run and somehow, miraculously, Leshia understood him. The girl readied herself, waiting for the moment to escape. It came quite suddenly as spells filled the room and quite suddenly Leshia was on her feet, grabbing her sister from the armchair and darting out into the boarded corridor beyond. Leshia ran straight for the front door, but found it bolted and locked. From the living room the sounds of the men fighting were rising and without thinking Leshia ran up the stairs clutching Evie to her chest.

Down below the sound of the fighting suddenly stopped and with her heart racing in her chest Leshia froze.

"No!" the wail of her grandfather roared. Quickly Leshia ran into a bedroom near the top of the dilapidated house where she found an old wardrobe. She reached down and dropped Evie into the pile of old curtains lying heaped in the bottom of the old cupboard.

"Please please please," Leshia pleaded, carefully covering her baby sister in the curtains. Their eyes met. "Don't make a sound."

With this Leshia was gone, closing the door in her wake and sprinting out into the landing beyond. The sound of feet storming up the stairs sent a terrified lurch through Leshia's body and just in time she managed to dart into a door that lay ajar. She needed a wand! How was she expected to fight him unarmed? Tripper! Leshia needed to get to tripper!

"Well well well," came the sickly voice of her grandfather, who was hovering down the other end of the landing near to where Leshia had hidden her sister. Protective instincts unfamiliar to the teenager coursed through her and she wished more dearly than anything to lure the foul old man away from her innocent sister. "You are full of surprises Alecia. What spell did you cast? Hmm? Whatever it was save your life if it managed to rebound off the killing curse. Don't worry though, I will find you and your little sister of course."

Lucius stepped over the threshold into the room that hid Evie and despite her common sense Leshia darted from the room.

"I'd like to see you try!" she cried out tauntingly; anything to get Lucius away from that doorway. Spells filled the air, narrowly missing Leshia's head as she sprinted down the stairwell and into a small chamber off the second floor landing.

"You're only delaying the inevitable Alecia," Lucius' voice carried through the rickety house. Leshia tried her very hardest to ignore him while she searched the room for what she knew ought to be there if the design of this house was anything like the townhouse she called home. "Why fight me? Your life is over. They will sentence you to the gallows the moment you show your face. You and that dear murdering son of mine. Yes, yes, you will both get what's coming to you."

Leshia fought her pride and instead focused on a tall panel that was prying away from the wall. The girl frowned deeply and ran over to the wood, which she ripped from the wall in a quick movement. Beyond it lay a dark gaping hole with a rope dangling down the middle of the dark shaft.

Leshia cringed at the musty cobwebbed passage, but one thought of her defenceless younger sister and the girl threw herself into the darkness, using the rope to descend into the black unknown. After several moments her feet reached a rubbish strewn floor. Not wishing to find out what those crunching noises were under her feet Leshia reached out in the dark finding stone walls on three of the walls encasing her in the dark. The fourth wall however, was not made of stone. Leshia exhaled heavily before she started pushing at the rotting wood that had been used to seal off the dumb waiter shaft. For several minutes the thing didn't budge, before finally it creaked away from the rotten wall. Leshia scrambled free out into the room beyond before she stealthily and silently made her way into the lounge where she found an immobilised bleeding Tripper barely conscious.

For a few minutes Leshia stood over the despicable man. Her hatred for him was so overpowering that for a moment she was unable to think of little else. Their eyes met and even though Leshia couldn't understand what had happened, she felt a well of mercy move deep within her heart. Where she had wanted to stamp on the vile man's face moment's before, quote suddenly she found herself moving his broken body ever so slightly so that he might feel more comfortable. Her slender fingers found his blood soaked wand, which she pocketed instantly.

"Don't be a fool girl," the man hissed painfully. Leshia met his gaze coldly and rolled her eyes.

"Oh bugger off," she grumbled. "I'm taking you with us."

Uneasily, as the man was very tall and girl very small, Leshia helped Silas Tripper uneasily to his feet before she left him propped up against a settee while she ran out to find her sister once more.

"There you are!" a shrill voice sounded and without thinking Leshia dived to the floor, narrowly missing a curse that flew through the air. "And now, you are finished. Never again will you stand in the way of Lucius Malfoy."

Leshia lifted her defiant face to meet her grandfather's eyes.

"The great Lucius Malfoy?" the girl countered snidely. "You just don't get it do you? You're just this dried up crusty old man that no one cares about, that no one fears. Last year they made a bigger deal out of a spectre than they did out of you. You're a nobody and you will always be a nobody. You think by stealing my little sister you'll turn her against my parents? Well that will never happen! Because we have something you don't know, we have something you're mighty Voldemort never came close to. We have love! Evie will never betray them and neither will I!"

The image of little Evie hiding up above filled Leshia's mind's eye. She thought of the happiness the baby had given her mother. She thought of her mother and how it had felt to have her come home to them. She thought of the days she had been the apple of her father's eye. Images and sounds of her cherished memories came flooding back inflating the teenager lying on the dusty ground. Slowly the girl rose, facing her grandfather's perplexed gaze with fearlessness. She felt good.

"_Expecto patronum_," the girl cried out, releasing from her wand a sparkling white mist that formed into a large nimble monkey. Fiercely the creature cast enough confusion in the hall to allow Leshia to escape. The girl ran up the stairs two at a time until finally she came across her sister.

Evie gargled slightly at the sight of Leshia, though obediently stayed silent while down below Lucius struggled to escape the pandemonium the bright patronus had caused down below. Leshia dropped down against the wall and thought quickly. How on earth could she get out of this situation alive?

"Ow," the teenager suddenly complained and she released her sister's hand from the choker around her neck. "Wait! That's it!"

Quite suddenly Leshia grabbed the speech stealer and held it up against her mouth. She spoke quietly into it before she wrapped it around her sister's neck. Down below the stairs were deathly silent. Leshia took no chances and took the rope in the dumb waiter shaft once more, emerging in the lounge with Evie clamped tightly to her chest. Once more spells filled the room sending Leshia diving for cover behind an overturned settee with Evie clasped tightly to her chest.

"Hide behind your sister would you?" Lucius sneered cruelly. "You're as much of a coward as your father."

"Shut up about my father!" Leshia cried out in a sob. "He's dead! Can't you just leave him alone!"

The girl's tears filled the room while Lucius looked with a frown to Silas Tripper, who lay upon the settee in agony. Neither man had heard this news and they turned in unison once more to direction of the crying girl. Leshia seemed suddenly overcome by emotion and with a deep frown Lucius Malfoy approached the location of his granddaughters.

"Good riddance," Lucius Malfoy uttered darkly when he finally reached the end of the overturned settee, his wand drawn. "What…"

Quite suddenly the old man fell under the weight of the bookcase Leshia had brought down on him. Lucius' surprise at finding baby Evie crying where he had only heard her sister had served as enough of a distraction for Leshia to launch her attack on the despicable man.

"Come on!" Leshia cried out and after scooping Evie up the girl ran to Tripper's side. The bookcase was shuddering as Lucius fought to escape it. Tripper raised his arm to the girl as she reached his side. He met the eyes of Lucius Malfoy as the foul old man raised his wand towards them, as curse shimmering in the air between them mid-flight, before quite suddenly the scene faded from view to be replaced by the dark façade of the Leaky Cauldron. Silas Tripper had apparated them to safety.

The fresh air felt like magic on his face, but as Tripper looked down to the girl he had saved he found her face had gone blue. Her hands were clasped around her sealed throat. While people spilled out of the busy pub to find out what the noise was about Silas Tripper laid Leshia down on the pavement, retaking his wand from her hands. She turned desperate eyes on the man as he pointed his wand to her neck.

His silent magic performed Leshia suddenly inhaled deeply, while she sat up, her arms protectively wrapping around her sister who still wore the speech stealer. Leshia prized the choker off the baby while she met Tripper's eyes.

"Thank you," she managed stiltedly while all around them people gasped and pointed. Cries went up into the street and within moments several people apparated to their sides. One of these people was the person Leshia had been most anxious to see.

"Mum!" the girl cried out and she jumped to her feet, carrying Evie with her to their shocked mother. Hermione's hands were clasped over her mouth as she stared at the daughter she had thought she had lost.

"Leshia," the woman uttered tremulously, before she broke down into wail-like laughter. "You're alive! You're alive!"

The pair embraced, little Evie trapped between them. They all cried.

XXX

Leshia lay in the bed in St Mungos staring at the ceiling with a heavy mind. Thoughts whirred around her head. It had been several hours since her escape from Lucius and though Minister Crayik had assured her personally that the case against her had been dropped at Tripper's testament that he had, while under the sway of the Imperius curse, been forced to frame both Leshia and Draco Malfoy. Lucius Malfoy's revelations had been a lie in which to have both Draco and Leshia killed so that he might more easily abduct the youngest Malfoy child. Just what Lucius wanted the girl for Tripper couldn't say, but he was very vehement that all charges be dropped.

Crayik had not known what to make of it, but he assured the girl she was free once more, as was her father. Leshia had refused to be taken to hospital until she saw her father was alive and well, but Draco was unreachable. So the girl had conceded and now she lay, bandaged, rejuvenated and revitalised in the comfortable bed with her little sister tucked into the crook of her arm sleeping soundly and her mother dozing lightly in the bed beside her.

Heavy footsteps sounded down the corridor. Leshia's eyes darted to the door and she smiled broadly when she saw who it was. Her smile was mirrored in her father's face and after staring at the wonderful scene before him Draco walked into the room and sat down beside his daughters. He glanced from Evie to Leshia with a ridiculously happy expression on his gaunt face.

"How did this happen?" he enquired softly. Leshia smiled and shook her head.

"Well, she's a Malfoy isn't she?" the girl replied with a shrug. "He was trying to take her dad and it just made me feel so…angry! I mean, family's family right?"

Draco chuckled heartily and he leaned down to rest his head next to Leshia's on the pillow. They both stared at the ceiling.

"Where were you?" the teenager at his side asked softly. Draco closed his eyes for a moment before he turned his head to look at his wife. She was watching him with tears in her eyes. For a moment Draco felt his heart flutter, before finally Hermione's broad smile reached her beautiful eyes. "Dad?" Leshia pushed and she manoeuvred herself onto her elbow to see her father's face. The man was smiling now, his gaze on his wife. Their hands reached out to one another and clasped together.

"Yuck," Leshia complained and she dropped back down into her soft pillows. Evie stirred with a grumble. "Damn right Evie, it's disgusting isn't it. Grown adults acting like teenagers indeed. They'll be snogging next, just you wait."

"Oy," Draco complained and he reached out with his other hand to give his daughter a firm poke in the ribs. "Don't you go teaching that one any of your cheek, do you hear me?" Leshia giggled and nodded, privately imagining herself doing just the opposite. She could have quite a little protégé on her hands.

"Did you find him?" Hermione now spoke, her voice serene and calm. Leshia turned her head slightly to look at the back of her father's head. She couldn't see the shame in his face.

"I was too late," Draco replied gravely. "He was gone by the time I got there."

Hermione sighed, but she nodded bravely. Gingerly, the young woman climbed from her bed and crawled onto the bed that held the rest of her family. The hospital cot groaned under the weight of the entire Malfoy family, but soon they were all aboard. Draco wrapped his arms around his wife, kissing her face lovingly while at their side Leshia pretended to make gagging noises.

And so they stayed until dawn broke with a hail of news headlines gripping the nation. Possibly the most repeated went along the lines of: _Vindicated: Draco and Alecia Malfoy innocent and framed! _

As the wizarding world mobilised themselves to deal with this surprising turn of events Draco had to leave his recovering family at the summons of the minister of magic. Everyone stared at the thin man as he made his way through the ministry. None hindered his passage. None offered to apologise for the public shaming he had received at the hands of the nation, but all felt a share of the guilt.

Minister Crayik seemed a frail thing as he sat behind his large desk in his bright office. Draco met the grizzly man's eyes with cool determination, before he took the seat opposite Crayik at the table.

"Thank you for coming Draco," Crayik spoke coldly. The tall death-eater nodded solemnly. "I have asked you to come before me so I can officially announce the charges against you have been dropped. You are a free man once more Malfoy."

Draco nodded and leaned his chin on his hand, his probing eyes never leaving those of the minister.

"I will never be able to trust you again Draco," the frail Minister of Magic announced darkly. "Not after everything that's happened, after everything you hid from me, but I was wrong to…"

"To try and have my daughter and I hanged?" Draco cut in sharply. Crayik shifted uncomfortably in his seat, but he nodded.

"Yes, that was indeed very wrong."

A silence ensued that suggested this was all the Minister wanted to say. Draco sighed heavily, wondering why it had been necessary to pry him away from his happy daily reunion to hear this message alone.

"You are to return to your post at Hogwarts immediately," Crayik told the tall man before him while Draco stood to his feet. "And your daughter as well, she is to return to school. Dumbledore has assured me he has briefed the student body with only the very vaguest of details of this whole sorry series of events, which no doubt means they already know more than most members of this department certainly."

"Albus believes in honesty sir," Draco stated simply. "He trusts the children with the truth."

"Indeed."

Draco walked towards the door, his steps suddenly feeling light and playful. He was a free man!

"Might I just ask sir," the blond man asked when he reached the door and looked back to find Crayik on his feet. "What is to become of Tripper?"

"He is to remain at the school. He will return to duty in September."

"You're serious?" Draco's cool voice cut through the room. Crayik nodded soberly. "Why?"

"Because you and that girl, who escaped a dark wizard for the third time virtually unscathed, are too powerful to be left unchecked Malfoy. I spoke of my mistrust in you, believe me when I say I trust your daughter much less so."

XXX

Leshia and Draco stood behind the door to the Great Hall listening to the happy voices within. There was a renewed vigour about the castle as news of Leshia and Draco's return swept through the student body. The pair had been mended as best they could, but both still bore the brunt of their ordeal in their gaunt faces and skinny bodies. Leshia was hopping up and down anxiously, waiting for their cue to walk in. They had arrived a few hours ago, but had been quite busy settling Hermione, Evie and Draco into their new home. The old Malfoy Family chambers had been enlarged to include a nursery and a small courtyard. Dumbledore had agreed it best that Hermione and Evie remain where they could be protected now Lucius Malfoy had revealed his dark intention to steal the Malfoy baby and there was no safer place than Hogwarts.

Leshia had sunk into her former happy relationship with her mother as thought the past year had been but a horrible nightmare. To her surprise Leshia found herself to adore Evie's company. Already Leshia had come up with a plethora of fun games that had seen Hermione reaching for her camera on several occasions. It had been hard to tear themselves away from the rest of the family in order to greet the school with their heads held high, but as soon as they had stepped past the portrait of the newlyweds Leshia's excitement had soared. She had missed her friends so dearly! Soon she would be back where she belonged.

"They're going to treat me differently aren't they?" Leshia mused quietly while the voices inside the hall dimmed. Dumbledore had evidently risen to his feet inside.

"Only if you let them sweetheart. Nothing has to change. Not if you don't want them to."

"Yeah right dad," the girl laughed. "You know what they're like around here. As if I ever had anything to do with public opinion of me in this school."

Draco chuckled and his smile broadened when inside the Great Hall a huge wave of cheers, applause and catcalls deafened the pair waiting outside.

"Oh I don't know," the father spoke loudly over the din. The door started to creak open. "I feel as though you might be selling yourself short there."

The doors to the Great Hall swung open revealing a sea of happy jubilant faces. Leshia and Draco received a hero's welcome as they made their way through the hall to their respective places. At the top table Draco's shoulders were embraced warmly by the staff that had come to adore the brooding unpredictable man while at Gryffindor table Leshia soon became buried by arms and bodies. The sea of movement swept her up the table to where her dearest friends had gathered. Their smiles were wet with tears and within moments Leshia was at their mercy. Hugs and kisses bombarded her and for a moment Leshia couldn't remember a time she had been happier.

XXX

Life for Leshia returned to normal. Just how it managed to happen so quickly, the girl wasn't sure, but it occurred to her one morning into her second week back that she felt as though she'd never been away. There were few who treated her differently; indeed, the student body were very good at hiding their reverence for the brave Gryffindor legend.

Only the news of Gryffindor's defeat at the hands of the Ravenclaw team took a dent in Leshia's happiness. She couldn't deal with the guilt of missing the game and losing her team the quidditch cup. Mila had been inconsolable when it emerged she hadn't led her team to victory at the time, but upon Leshia's return she buried her private disappointment under a wave of appreciation for the hard work her team had put in during her brief stint as captain.

The weeks passed in a jubilant haze of enjoyment. Leshia particularly enjoyed being granted a special reprieve during exam week. While her closest friends struggled away in stuffy classrooms she took to loafing about in the grounds with those of her friends who didn't have exams to get to and finally the last day of term approached. The summer was beckoning the sun kissed pupils.

As the train pulled out of the station at Hogsmeade Leshia cast the castle a longing gaze. She had been reunited with Hogwarts far too fleetingly and wished more than anything to stay another month or so to enjoy the freedom of her life. Leshia lay pushed up between Rachel and Parys, the sun dancing across her face while the train sped them home.

"So tomorrow we'll meet up in the cauldron for some pumpkin juice?" Katie was instructing the group firmly. Rachel and Leshia exchanged a grin.

"Katie I've already told you, tomorrow's Evie's birthday. Mum's planned this whole big party at my place. You're all invited, which, by the way, I also told you."

"Yeah," Rodeo conceded. "But we've kind of been ignoring that one. I mean, a one-year-old's birthday party? Doesn't exactly sound like a hoot does it?"

"Like a what?" Rachel burst out laughing, but Leshia was stamping her foot down amusedly.

"Nice try Rodes, but you're all coming. We can head out to the pub afterwards."

"Is Owen coming tomorrow?" Rachel asked curiously, smiling devilishly when Leshia's cheeks turned slightly pink.

"He said he might do, we'll see."

Katie and Rachel exchanged a conspiratorial smile that thankfully bypassed the boys' attention. The train sped on through the British countryside.

"Are you going to be all boring and work in the bookshop again this summer? Oy shorty, I'm talking to you," Parys managed through a yawn and he poked Leshia's ear to let her know he had addressed her. Rolling her eyes Leshia pushed Parys away with a grin.

"Maybe, who knows? I don't think I'll be able to be as, well, you know, free this summer, what with…him and all that."

The small group fell silent and they nodded.

"Well I for one can't wait till next year," Katie announced cheerily when the silence had become slightly awkward. No one had spoken much of the danger Lucius posed to Leshia herself, though conversations had been rampant behind her back.

"Why's that?" Rachel asked cheerily.

"Because we'll be in fifth year! Fifth years are chosen to be prefects! And we get to do OWLs! And we get to do much harder work…"

As one Katie's friends all exchanged a node before they jumped to their feet and leapt on the raven-haired girl in a tickling frenzy that soon turned into an enormous pile up of laughing giggling teenagers. Yes, they were all looking forward to their fifth year at Hogwarts, though secretly they all rather hoped it could be just a little bit less eventful than the last few years had turned out to be. Just a little mind you.

XXXXX

The end

I am extremely emotional at the moment (hormones), but I cried solidly throughout the first part of this chapter. I hope there are those of you who have stuck through with this fic to the end. I know Leshia became quite unpopular throughout it, but it's important to her development that you understand who she is and what she's about. She's a normal teenager with a dichotic murderous father and an over-emotional genius for a mother; she's bound to be a handful. I hope she's redeemed herself.

If people would like the fifth instalment of the series then please let me know. These stories take me over a year to complete, as they are obscenely long and are intricately planned. This last one was 364 word pages and 214,000 words long. If that were a paperback it would be 850 pages, so longer in fact than the original Harry Potter works by JK Rowling. I don't want to embark upon a massive undertaking like that when I have a demanding full time job and I am trying to publish my original novel (and have started writing the next one) if it is not going to be received well. So please let me know and I will start the next instalment: Generations Part V.

Thanks for reading.


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